IB Vs AP: Impact On Admission To Good Colleges

IB and AP programs

What Is The Impact On The Admission To Good Colleges.

1. Key differences between IB and AP?

Answers: IB and AP programs provide courses that are challenging to the students of high school. The philosophies and the goals of both are different. The AP program was developed in the United States so as to help the students of high school to prepare for the college by taking the courses that are advanced and there are course of programs that are not set. The students studying in the high school can opt for one or dozen classes of AP which relies on the goals, schedule and the school of the student.

IB was evolved in Switzerland which came to be known as an internationally recognised course of diploma. To obtain the diploma a definite amount of courses needs to be taken which will consist of some subjects that are in range. It is feasible to take IBs that are few in numbers to obtain the diploma.

The program of IB is less common than the AP program. The AP is quite common within the students while the programs of IB is not as common as AP because the schools have to give the classes that are enough for the diploma courses so as to host a program of IB. IB is more expensive than the AP classes.

The AP and IB have unlike program goals

The both programs have unlike program goals. The IB gives more importance on development of thinking skills and writing. The IB also consists of essays that are extended and it also consists of research papers that are in college style and long in nature. The program of IB has requirements that are extracurricular.

Unlike IB, AP is a program which centres about teaching the students and then tests their knowledge by taking exams. It has more multiple choices and it give importance to meet content goals.

The exams of IB are costlier than the AP exams. The AP programs are less expensive than the IB and the college also provides the students with financial aid. It lowers the cost of the AP exams.

2. What do colleges think of IB and AP?

Answers: The colleges so not consider IB or AP tougher or much more magnificent. Since IB is program that is very rare, they don’t penalize the students for not opting the IB programs. There are differences between the style of teaching of both AP and IB in the high school all over the country. If the High school has only IB courses then the student must opt for the IB courses. If the high school has only AP courses then the student must opt for the AP courses and they can even opt the diploma course. If the high school has both then the student can take both of them. Since AP is not a diploma course and IB is a diploma course, the student must go for the diploma course if the course is offered in the school. If the student has not opted for the diploma course then the student has missed the chance of taking the course that is challenging. If the student is more dedicated towards extracurricular activities and not academics then the student would not be penalized for not taking the diploma course.  One thing that the student should keep in mind that the IB program will help the student to become an expert in all the subjects while the AP program will help the student to become strong in the subjects that the students likes. The college that the student is studying will notice this. The student should take AP classes with many subjects but study the subjects that he is passionate about. For example, a writer who writes good English should take AP English literature and English language but should also take AP calculus or AP statistics so as to increase the quantative skills.

3. Does IB or AP give you more college credit?

Differences in program goals

Answer: Another major difference between IB and AP courses is that the amount of credit points the student can earn from the courses at various schools. If the student studying is a college favours a course over another, the student must opt for the course that the college favours. It will earn the student more credit points. If a student gets a high passing score then he or she will earn course credit. But one thing should be kept in mind by the student that the higher level IB courses are accepted by the colleges but the standard level IB courses are not always opted by the students. Unlike IB, AP is given at level one. If a student takes up IB courses that re in level three and IB courses of level three standards then the student may not earn more credit. But the student can earn more credit if he or she takes up six AP courses. Many colleges have slight differences in the hours of credit between IB and AP which can confuse the student which course should be taken. But, some colleges give AP more credit like the CU Boulder and some college like the University Of Michigan gives IB more credit. The credits of AP and IB are accepted widely but there are differences in the policies of credit. It should be kept in mind by the student that he or she will get credits if and only if the student scores 5 in the IB exam and a score 4 or higher in the AP exam. So if the student takes IB or AP, he will only get credits if he or she does well in the exams.

4. Other considerations for deciding between AP and IB?

Answer:  There are different factors which a student should think about before deciding between IB and AP.

The students taking up one of these courses should see that the course is fitting in his schedule and extracurricular activity. The student must ask the high school if they have a four year plan for the students that are in advanced level. This will give the student an idea about the schedule and the extracurricular activities that the student want to participate.

The quality of teaching can break or make the experience of a student in the class. The student asks the seniors about their experiences in some classes. The student must think of a way to see the syllabus of the past and the current years for the IB and AP classes. The student can also ask the counsellor about the rates of exam of various teachers in the high school. This can give the student an idea about the reputation of a teacher in certain class and the number of students that are successful in the class.

Answer: Earlier it is discussed that whether a student can take IB and AP in the same school. But if the high school does not give IB to the student then what should the student do. The student should take the decision himself. If he wants to study IB then he should change the school even if the school is far away from his house. A lot of students switch schools to take IB in order to get admission in good colleges. But if switching school waste time of the student which will strain the schedule of the family then he should take up the AP course in the neighbourhood high school. Since the student saved his time by not travelling, he can give more time to the extracurricular activities in the high school. The student also took piano lessons since the time was saved by not travelling far away.   The best option is that to give the best at whatever high school the student will attend. The colleges evaluate the student according to the high school and not the courses taken. If the student feels that there is not much opportunities in the neighbourhood high school he or she can attend the school with more opportunities but should not give pressure to himself to switch the school.

5. Bottom line: AP VS IB

Answer: The student who is taking either the AP or IB courses will be very happy as he is challenging himself with the courses at the college level. But there is no benefit of taking the IB or AP courses unless and until the student does well in the courses that have been taken. The student should also make sure that he or she is doing well in the classes and not pressurizing him. There is no point for the student to take AP classes and IB diploma course if the student is getting a low GPA and is not passing the exams. The student should also see that the SAT or the ACT score is good as it will have a great impact on the admission to good colleges.

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