IB Program, taking AP tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the IB tends to lean more towards the Humanities, I would say plumping out a resume with say AP Physics, or AP Chem is not a bad idea if your student has strengths in those subjects and wants to pursue a pure science or medical degree. That would be my only suggestion. Otherwise I would say stick with the IB as it stands.

The other thing of course is where the IB is being taught. If kid is at RMIB then you know they're getting a good coverage, if at BCC however where you can pick and choose from IB subjects, mix it up and not get a full diploma, I would say it's more likely you'd need to add in APs.

IB doesn't lean towards the humanities. IB Chem HL is significantly harder than AP Chem--my kid passed the AP Chem exam with a 5 after just the first part of IB Chem (it's 2 years).

My DC took Honors Chem this year and will be doing HL1 Chem in 11th, next year. They are thinking of taking the AP CHem exam---how much studying did you child have to do for a 5 ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

When my now 11th grader (Full IB program) was in 6th grade, the principals of two local feeder schools came to a PTA meeting --
They explained - AP teaches you what to thnk and IB teaches you how to think.

[Anonymous]

I suggest you be strategic. Most
Colleges will give credit for HL classes. So no need to take overlapping AP tests for Biology for example of your kid is already in IB Bio HL. Very few top colleges give credit for IB SL courses. My DD for example chose Spanish SL. Didn’t get college credit for it. If she had decided to go for the AP test I’m pretty sure she could have done it with minimal additional work. Figure out which colleges your kid is aiming for, learn what they give credit for, and then make a game plan to earn additional credit for a few more AP tests. Understand that depending on major, and on the college, as another pp said, your kid may need to retake a topic regardless of college credit earned. For example my DD did HL Economics. But her B school required her to take Micro and Macro at her college, she got only elective credit for the Econ HL class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the IB tends to lean more towards the Humanities, I would say plumping out a resume with say AP Physics, or AP Chem is not a bad idea if your student has strengths in those subjects and wants to pursue a pure science or medical degree. That would be my only suggestion. Otherwise I would say stick with the IB as it stands.

The other thing of course is where the IB is being taught. If kid is at RMIB then you know they're getting a good coverage, if at BCC however where you can pick and choose from IB subjects, mix it up and not get a full diploma, I would say it's more likely you'd need to add in APs.

IB doesn't lean towards the humanities. IB Chem HL is significantly harder than AP Chem--my kid passed the AP Chem exam with a 5 after just the first part of IB Chem (it's 2 years).

It does and is long known internationally as such. It's known to lean towards languages and linguistics and history over the sciences. I'm not saying it is deficient in the sciences, not at all - that's just not it's forte.

Well, all I can say is that as a biochemist I am more impressed with the IB curriculum than the AP. Math is a little different--I think the AP fits more with how math is taught in the US--it's hard to assess which is stronger.

I’m a Biochemist too and think AP Chem and AP Bio are both terrific. Who really cares anyway? It seems silly to do both. That is a lot of exams. Why torture your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

IB Physics and Math are clearly inferior to the AP counterparts. You’re much better off taking one year of Calculus BC and one year of Statistics instead of the HL Analysis. IB Physics is algebra based, enough said.

What do you mean by “teach to the test”? Often it’s meant to throw some shade at the multiple answer portion of the exam, which in my view is misguided. Multiple chose questions are good at sampling more of the material taught in class and it decreases the test variability. It’s not perfect, but neither is the IB approach.

I find it slightly amusing that you’re the spokesperson for you STEM PhD spouse. Please ask why they thought the IB classes were more thorough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just trying to get a feel.

Does it make sense for an A student destine for the IB Diploma to take lots of AP tests in the classes they have SL/HL courses? Or is it just unnecessary work/pressure?

It depends, you’d have to be more specific to what classes, for humanities and foreign languages generally yes, sciences and math it will be much harder.

IB Math Analysis to Calculus AB maybe, Calculus BC not because IB HL doesn’t cover BC topics. AP Statistics definitely not.

IB Physics HL to AP Physics 1 and 2 maybe the style of questions is very different. AP Physics C don’t bother.

For Chemistry and Biology, IB HL and AP are roughly equivalent.

IB computer science to AP Computer Science, it really depends how it’s taught. IB to AP Principles yes, but to AP Java probably not, unless the IB class is thought with a focus on coding.

I would not take science and math AP exams after SL classes without a good amount of self study, odds are not good, too little material covered.

Honestly it’s a little pointless to ask it at this time, the real question should have been the choice between AP and IB when choosing the high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

When my now 11th grader (Full IB program) was in 6th grade, the principals of two local feeder schools came to a PTA meeting --
They explained - AP teaches you what to thnk and IB teaches you how to think.

I’m wondering how impartial were those principals pitching their high schools to parents. For sure they wouldn’t be exaggerating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

When my now 11th grader (Full IB program) was in 6th grade, the principals of two local feeder schools came to a PTA meeting --
They explained - AP teaches you what to thnk and IB teaches you how to think.

And did you chose not to think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the IB tends to lean more towards the Humanities, I would say plumping out a resume with say AP Physics, or AP Chem is not a bad idea if your student has strengths in those subjects and wants to pursue a pure science or medical degree. That would be my only suggestion. Otherwise I would say stick with the IB as it stands.

The other thing of course is where the IB is being taught. If kid is at RMIB then you know they're getting a good coverage, if at BCC however where you can pick and choose from IB subjects, mix it up and not get a full diploma, I would say it's more likely you'd need to add in APs.

IB doesn't lean towards the humanities. IB Chem HL is significantly harder than AP Chem--my kid passed the AP Chem exam with a 5 after just the first part of IB Chem (it's 2 years).

My DC took Honors Chem this year and will be doing HL1 Chem in 11th, next year. They are thinking of taking the AP CHem exam---how much studying did you child have to do for a 5 ?

2 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

When my now 11th grader (Full IB program) was in 6th grade, the principals of two local feeder schools came to a PTA meeting --
They explained - AP teaches you what to thnk and IB teaches you how to think.

And did you chose not to think?

lol, that was funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I don't think it makes sense. They will be taking the IB exams. Why take both for the same class?

Nearly all college admissions folks understand what a 4 or 5 onan AP exam (only if taken before senior year !) means. Many college admissions folks do not understand what an IB exam score means (again, for any exams taken before senior year) — simply because IB is much much less common across the country as a whole.

[Anonymous]

My IB kid has taken AP tests in history, stats, and calc. Got 5s on all. Just took IB exams so waiting on those scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in an IB track but has taken a few AP exams at school.

+1 not all IB exams are given credit for college, either, even with a 7.

Most of the RMIB students I know took AP exams as well as IB exams to get the college credit, including my DC. Between IB/AP exams, DC had 58 credits going into college.

NP. Great for your kid, and I hope those credits really help, but that is not everyone's case. Posts like yours feed a belief on this site, and among parents generally, that there's a simple formula of AP = college credit. Not always true, and parents and their kids should not make assumptions.

Friend's DD got stellar grades in a ton of AP classes and the top score on all her AP exams and her college (a large VA public, not going to name it) still required her to take a couple of own equivalent STEM classes "so you can learn it the way WE teach it here," fundamentally. The DD and her parents (who were 100 percent calculating on the DD graduating from college a year early with AP credits) were totally surprised by this. It was not about the fantastic student or the specific high school etc., it was about the college wanting to ensure all students were learning certain things in certain ways. I'm NOT dissing the quality of AP, just saying that I would not tell any parent that AP scores will translate into automatically skipping certain levels of class at every college.

Same applies to IB; don't assume that having successfully taken a course/passed an exam means automatic credit at the college of your choice.

There's a related myth that IB = U.S. colleges won't give credit at all. This is said a lot by anti-IB bashers, by the way. This too is wrong. Many do give credits, some don't, you have to investigate and not assume.

BTW, IB is also not just about humanities "lean" as one PP keeps saying; it's better on writing skills than AP, I think, but students must learn to write well in all subject areas-- including math and sciences. And my Ph.D. STEM field spouse felt IB physics and chemistry was more rounded and thorough and less "teach to the test" than AP as of four or five years ago when DC was in HS.

This has always been the case. Both DH and I had to retake classes for which we had AP credits. Colleges/universities are a business too. I think it’s naive to think otherwise.

[Anonymous]

OP why are you asking and what would be the purpose of taking the AP exams?

I have kids in HS who will be applying to UK universities so the AP exams for them, are essential. But they're not taking the IB, which if they had done, is fully accepted in the UK (and the rest of Europe) plus a few other places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My IB kid has taken AP tests in history, stats, and calc. Got 5s on all. Just took IB exams so waiting on those scores.

It sounds like your kid took the AP exams after taking the AP classes. Nobody in their right mind would take AP Calculus and AP Statistics after the first year of HL math, without any other preparation. The OP asked about taking the corresponding AP exams after completing the IB coursework.