International Baccalaureate

1,404 Views | 3 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by oldag00
iisanaggie
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AG
My son is currently in his junior year of IB. We were having a discussion last night about AP classes vs IB classes. He mentioned that several of his friends in IB had been told not to do IB because US colleges don't value it as much as AP. I am doubtful that this is the case so I figured I would come ask the experts on Texags.
double b
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AG
This is true for some of the subjects, especially math. The rigor in AP Calc AB and BC is more difficult than their counterpart IB Math courses. IB Math courses follow an International curriculum where the various subjects are integrated with each other. So it's not uncommon to study a chapter with concepts rooted in algebra, followed by some geometry, and see some statistics and probability mixed in with math. In the US, math is taught in silos which prevents the student from learning how the various subjects work together. However, the one advantage is that the AP curriculum allows students to dive deeper into math.

Also, the IB HL science classes can be seen as more rigorous than most of the lower-level AP sciences. However, AP Physics C is widely considered the most rigorous Physics course.

For the rest of the course, it is pretty much a wash to say one is more difficult than the other. IB courses tend to work more in cooperation with each other while the AP courses are taught independently from one another.

The most important element is that your child is taking rigorous courses that meet both their abilities and academic goals.
aggie93
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AG
Really depends on what he wants to do from what I have seen. They offer it at our school but my son is focusing on AP because he wants Engineering. If you are looking at Liberal Arts with a plan for Law or something later at a really good school it may be more valuable though.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

Ronald Reagan
oldag00
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AG
Our son is a senior currently on track to earn the IB diploma. He will pursue a STEM degree in college. We chose the IB route for him specifically due to the added focus on and integration of the "liberal arts" subjects. He doesn't need extra emphasis or work in math and science to be good at those subjects. We wanted him to strengthen the subjects that weren't quite so natural for him.

We should learn in the next couple of months whether there was any wisdom in that line of thinking. All the "tech" schools where he is applying (CalTech, Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman, WPI, WashU, etc.) have emphasized their desire to admit students that aren't just good at math and science. We'll see if they mean it.
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