<p>What Are Ib Exams?</p>
<p>International Bacalaurate (hope I spelt that right)</p>
<p>It's the international equivalent of the AP Program. From what I understand (and I'm not a IB student), getting IB certificates is like passing AP tests. The IB diploma requires you to pass certain IB tests and do some other stuff, like essays etc. Maybe some IB students can clarify?</p>
<p>From what I've heard and seen from the requirements, IB is much more demanding than AP.</p>
<p>My impression has been that IB certificates are comparable in difficulty to AP tests, but the Diploma program is much more demanding than the AP Program or most high school graduation requirements.</p>
<p>Well duh IB would be more demanding, for it is a diploma plan, while AP isn't. You can't really compare them...plus IB is more for international cases, whereas the AP is practically accepted at every university.</p>
<p>Almost all universities that give credit for AP exams also give credit for IB HL exams, GCE A-Levels, and other international college level exams</p>
<p>I find IB exams are actually easier than AP to pass but harder to get the maximum score (7). This only applies for higher levels; subsidiary level exams are ridiculously easy.</p>
<p>I've really never seen any IB books, so I would assume AP is more popular, thus there is no need to take them. Plus, if you don't know what IB exams are, that means your school doesn't do the the IB program, meaning you don't need to worry! :-)</p>
<p>AP is predominantly American, while the IB is given all over the world. I'm an IB diploma candidate but I've taken AP exams (and half of my IBs) and in general the AP questions are harder, but the IB questions have a broader scope.</p>
<p>It's not just the exams you have to judge difficulty by, though. The IB diploma program also includes other elements. In each subject you do an internal assessment project (in the sciences it's labs, in English it's the World Lit paper, etc.) that makes up a significant portion of your final IB grade (the rest of the grade coming from the actual exam). There's also the Extended Essay and ToK.</p>
<p>So yes, I'm comfortable saying that the IB diploma program is more demanding than the AP program. Top-tier colleges give IB exams the same weight as AP exams. A lot of IB HL courses are recognized to be the toughest of their kind available to high schoolers (math HL in particular is a lot harder than AP Calc BC - from personal experience).</p>
<p>the I program is more mentally and physically challenging than the AP test whereas the actual tests are easier than compared to the AP test. </p>
<p>the IB concentrates more on the process whereas AP concerns itself just with the results</p>
<p>IB exams are basically the exams for the International Baccalaureate program. It's more a European program that's based in Switzerland if I'm not mistaken but is used all around the world because it's widely recognized as one of the hardest academic programs in the world. I know many European schools use it, as well as international schools and a couple of schools in America. </p>
<p>The IB Diploma requires its candidates to take 3 Higher level courses and 3 standard level courses (sometimes 4 Hs and 2 Ss) in six fields (math, science, B language -- second language, social science, A1 language-- usually English, and one of your choice), as well as Theory of Knowledge and the completion of an Extended Essay (3000+ words I believe) on a field of your choice (usually a higher level course the candidate is taking). The courses are two years long so most start their junior year (IBH-1, IBH-2), though some qualified individuals take the first year course during sophomore year. Exams are during May of the second year, and most of them have several parts. In sciences, for example, there is Paper 1 (MC), Paper 2 (short answer and essay), and Paper 3(options). They are scored out of 7.</p>
<p>Each class also has several Internal Assessments, or IAs. In the sciences, these are labs (usually 6 or so labs), in Economics, commentaries, in English, a World Literature paper, in Math, portfolios, etc. These take a lot of time and account for 24% of your final IB grade.</p>
<p>IB Diploma "grades" are out of 45 (6 IB course scores out of 7, and 3 points for your Extended Essay and ToK course). Usually schools like Oxford and Cambridge extend a conditional acceptance for scores from 40 and above.</p>
<p>There is also something called CAS, which is Creativity, Action, and Service hours. IB Diploma candidates need to get 150 hours total, 50 hours each. Creativity includes art, drama, etc. Action is more of sports and the like, and Service is self-explanatory.</p>
<p>I've taken both IB and AP exams, and I must say that while AP exams are a little bit harder (I've only taken S level exams in IB, so I'm not sure about the H levels;I hear they're hard), the process of getting an IB Diploma is crazy. There is a lot of work involved and there's this saying that goes: "Friends, IB Diploma, Social Life (meaning partying, etc).. Choose 2." </p>
<p>Hope this was helpful!</p>
<p>I thought that the saying went "IB, Social Life, Sleep: Choose Two."</p>
<p>lol.. I've heard the same saying at some of the colleges I've visited (MIT, Caltech etc) - "Good grades, sleep, and social life: Pick two"</p>
<p>thank you! It was very informative. HOwever, since my school doesn't offer these ib exams anyways, i won't worry about taking them. I already take aps. thanks for the information.</p>
<p>I’m an IB student right now and I’m going for full IB diploma. I’ve taken AP European History and AP Calculus, and both have been harder than any IB class I’m taking. But overall, IB is MUCH harder and requires much more work outside of school. And the real saying for IB students is “IB diploma,sleep, social life” pick 2! i cant decide between social and sleep so i balance those 2 :P</p>
<p>A school must be go through a rigorous certification process in order to become an IB school. For our school, that took three years. We are in the second year of IB classes. We are in Missouri and only nine high schools in the entire state have the IB certifcation.</p>
<p>Teachers are required to attend classes to become IB certified in their subject. As others have stated the IB classes all have an internal assessment, much more research than AP and most have an oral presentation as well.</p>
<p>You cannot self-study for an IB test as you can for AP. You must be enrolled in the IB class.</p>
<p>As an incentive for our students to take IB rather than AP classes, the school is paying for the IB exams.</p>
<p>All of the posts about the IB program are spot on. </p>
<p>I’m in my second year in the IB, btw - and exams are just half the story in the IB.</p>