RMIB parents, current or former, did your children take AP exams?

[Anonymous]

Basically, what the subject says. I was told by some that almost no children in IB takes AP exams. I was also told by someone else exactly the opposite. Would love to hear from your experiences.

Did your kids take AP? How many? In which grades? Was it a good / bad idea? Do you think it helped?

[Anonymous]

I teach at RM. Most students taking an IB exam also take the corresponding AP exam. There’s a large amount of overlap and the IB teachers know the curriculum mismatches and will tell kids what self-study is needed for the AP exam. The benefit for students is that the AP exam is just the test, while the IB final score also rolls in the IA score. It’s harder to get 6/7 on IB than 4/5 on AP, which is typically needed for college credit.

[Anonymous]

My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

[Anonymous]

Mine took the AP exams only if they are taking the AP classes, no extra study for AP when taking IB classes.
They needed up taking 7 AP in this order 2,2,1,2

[Anonymous]

yes my daughter took 8-9 AP tests. Most of her friends did take AP exams. IB exams were cancelled due to covid.

Not sure if it’s good or bad as it was her decision and I wasn’t involved in the decision. She said not much additonal efforts needed and is generally good at standardized tests. She is currently in one of the ives so she didn’t earn any college credits but she could take more advanced classes. did it look good at college application? I really don’t know but it shouldn’t hurt I guess.

[Anonymous]

Took 13 APs (including some that did not correspond to an RM class, but had studied outside of school for many years, like music theory) but can’t remember how it was split across the 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Mien took APs in US govt, US History, Spanish, both Comp Sci classes (she took all those as AP classes) plus AP for environmental and calculus (where she took the IB classes).

Were a little up in the air for senior year since we know where she is going, she will only do APs if there is a defined benefit to her as far as class registration.

[Anonymous]

Many schools do not offer any APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many schools do not offer any APs.

? ok, but OP is asking about RM, not "many schools".

To OP, from what I know, almost all RMIB kids take the corresponding AP exams, and then some, my DC included. Some even take AP exams of subjects that they didn't take any classes in. They just self study. That's how high achieving some of these kids are.

Whoever told you that they don't take AP exams is completely clueless. Do not listen to this person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Yeah, but that’s the way some kids are. I’m trying to talk mine out of taking some this year but she’s already looking at college courses and she wants to be able to jump to the more advanced classes. L her college will give more credit for some AP tests than some IB tests even though the IB tests are a lot harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Yeah, but that’s the way some kids are. I’m trying to talk mine out of taking some this year but she’s already looking at college courses and she wants to be able to jump to the more advanced classes. L her college will give more credit for some AP tests than some IB tests even though the IB tests are a lot harder.

You just need to plan well in 9th to 10th grades. If you want the college credit and course placement, take the APs and ace them. I think a kid doing IB plus 13 APs is poorly advised by parents or school counselor. It’s good to be ambitious, but in this case if IB is most rigorous, why the need to take the 13 APs. Seems like it’s only for college credit. From what I’ve seen doing the 13 APs alone, would almost certainly be considered the most rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Some of these kids are super high achieving, and they value both. I tried to talk DC out of taking that many AP exams, but they insisted. They got 5s on all except the FL because they said they couldn't hear the audio, but they got a 7 on the IB FL exam.

These are just super high achieving kids, and contrary to what some think, it's not the parents pushing all these kids. They are just driven.