<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore in high school and I am easily getting straight A's. My school is also known for its academics. We have junior registration coming up and I can't decide between taking AP classes or going for the IB diploma? Which would help me get into a top tier college like Harvard or Yale? And if you think I should take AP, how many AP classes should I take next year? Thankyou</p>
<p>It depends… just my perspective… I did IB in high school and I doubt it’s done much for me (I’m 5 years out of undergrad). The IB program I was in was new and our teachers really weren’t great at teaching it. Suffice to say I got my diploma, but my AP performance was much better than my IB performance (the 5’s I got on my AP exams placed me out of 4 classes in undergrad). </p>
<p>As for how many AP classes to take… take as many as you can so long as you can maintain a 4.0. You’re ultimately the best judge for what that number is.</p>
<p>AP! AP! AP! jk… im biased as our rival high school had an IB program. I got accepted into the program, but in the end went with my high school’s newly established AP program which is basically a program to put you in as many AP classes lol(school gets money for each passing score). I know an ib kid that got accepted to yale, but my best friend who is also in the ap program got into caltech, full scholarship. </p>
<p>so both will, provided that you do well. i heard ib is a lot of work and the tests are easier but AP classes are easier but the exam is harder. </p>
<p>in my junior year, i took 6 AP classes and spanish three. that was the first year i failed some AP exams. so choose wisely. don’t overload yourself.</p>
<p>Personally I am in IB but both AP and IB are good for preparing you for college and I don’t think Ivy League colleges will mind which one you take. Just a warning for IB though, colleges want you to do the whole entire diploma to be considered the most rigourous course schedule. Choosing between AP and IB really depends on what type of program you want and what are your strengths. IB is more strict on what courses you have to take and AP lets you choose what you want. For example, in IB you have to take Theory of Knowledge which is like a philosophy class and you have to take an IB class in all the subjects: math,english,science,history, foreign language and an elective. If you hate one subject and don’t want to take it as IB then that might be a problem. IB forces you to be well-rounded which isn’t a bad thing.Personally, I like that IB forces you to be well-rounded in all the subjects because it makes you have a broader education. AP allows more specialization. If you only want to take Hisotry AP’s then you can. You can also be well rounded in AP too but that might be hard since you don’t generally take 6 AP classes in one year while you do that for IB. IB makes you take three or four HL classes which are the harder courses and two or three SL courses which are easier so you don’t overload yourself. If you are a math and science person then I have heard that AP classes are better for it because they have a better variety of math and science classes. I’m not sure about that so I would check on that. I do know that you are not allowed to take IB Chem, IB Math and IB Physics combined as your three HL classes. You hve to replace of of them with something else. I think IB is good for the humanities though. IB is VERY writing intensive which is good for college. IB really emphasizes analytical writing and oral skills. We have our literary anlysis papers, our IOP’s which is a 10-15 minute oral presentaion analyzing specific novels. Then there is the IOC which is where you come in and analyze a topic given by the teacher and discuss for about 20 minutes. We also have IA’s(Internal Assesments) which are like research projects. The IA depends on the subject. In history you come up with a question and thesis and then you answer the question. The IA is between 1,500-2,000 words. In Psychology you replicate a psychological experiment experiment and then type up the results. That is also about 1,500-2,000 words. Then there is also the Extended Essay which is turned in senior year and is about 4,000 words on a topic of your choosing. There is also CAS hours which stands for Creativity,Action and Service. Basically IB does not want you to only focus on school so they make you do 150 hours of something Creative,Active or something with Service. A warning about IB tests. Most of them are at the end of junior year because IB is a two year program so you need to save your notes and materials from junior year. You also won’t be taking a lot of IB tests junior year. Maybe one or two. Most of them are at the end of senior year which might cause a lot of stress. AP tests might be more spred out. Good Luck with whichever program you choose! Both of them are good and if you have any more questions about IB you can message me. :)</p>
<p>You may want to check each college on which AP and IB HL scores they accept for advanced placement. Many of the AP courses / tests cover only a semester of material that a college course would cover (e.g. Calculus AB, Statistics, Chemistry, Human Geography, Psychology), or only for a non-major’s version of the course (e.g. Physics B, Statistics). For IB, colleges generally only accept HL, not SL, courses / tests for advanced placement.</p>
<p>Managing IB is very difficult if you have any extra curricular activities. IB requires a lot of time outside of school. I think the program is great but while doing college tours and info sessions we asked which program they prefer and there seems to be no preference… I say AP, my son regrets doing IB.</p>
<p>I agree with Corinthmom. My S graduated with a full IB diploma but had a miserable senior year (stress). He wishes he had just taken mostly IB classes but skipped the extra requirements of a full diploma (CAS requirements & extended essay).
On a positive note, IB probably helped him get into the selective LAC he now attends, and he is very happy there (and not nearly as stressed as he was during his senior year in IB!)</p>
<p>So it seems to me like IB is more work. Well, I am on my school’s baseball team and am also involved in ASB. So AP sounds like a better option, right?</p>
<p>I like the full IB. It’s challenging but fun if you enjoy your courses.</p>
<p>D is doing full IB Diploma and AP. Agree with AmbitiousDreams about IB benefits. Also agree with Pootie about drawback of harder senior year than junior year. While Junior year is the typical intensive “hardest year” load than many students report, IB senior year is even more intensive. Final, final version of extended essay was due last Tuesday - yeah! TOK presentations happen whenever they get back to school from this weather interruption, and orals start in February when many non IB kids are starting to coast having turned in their mid-year reports already. CAS group projects are still going and IB music performances and compositions are still “out there” on the horizon.</p>
<p>Lancer15 - D is also on baseball team which is only really a conflict for group 4 science night and exams in May. The last week of baseball season and any post season play overlap with exams, but AP exams are also in that time window, so one is not better than another in that regard. Unless you live in Arizona or another of those year round baseball states it shouldn’t make that big a difference.</p>
<p>Definitely choose AP. Colleges do not favor one over the other. You have greater flexibility and an ability to sculpt your classes to maximize your GPA and much lower stress in senior year with AP. As a parent of a senior accepted ED into a top university, I would say focus on maximizing your GPA and choosing unconventional ECs that make you stand out unless you can get into recruited athlete teritory. Kids who got 3.9s in AP heavy programs did better than kids with 3.85 in IB. Kids who took 4 AP courses and had 4.0 semesters did better with college acceptances than kids with 3.8 semesters with full IB or full AP. If foreign language is a problem, take 3 years not four if you can avoid a couple of Bs. If math is an issue, stay in the math track but slow it down and avoid the toughest courses. If you are a science kid, avoid AP or IB English and take the honors class. If science is an issue, avoid physics and take AP enviro. Bottom line, you need to appear well rounded academically and to take a rigorous schedule, but not everything needs to be the most rigorous. AP allows you more flexibility to pick and choose to maximize your GPA. However, if you are an International student or have an interest in attending a foreign university, then IB might be a better choice for you.</p>
<p>Would I be able to take 5 AP classes, even though I’m involved in ASB and I’m on the baseball team?</p>
<p>The IB and AP programs are fundamentally different. The IB takes a very different approach. As someone who has interviewed for Harvard for years, the university does not discriminate in favor of one except, perhaps, for this general belief that the IB program is more challenging. That said, IB provision differs radically from school to school. As it is newer, teaching for the IB is more uneven. You need to decide which approach you prefer. Don’t focus so much on the metrics.</p>