Practical differences between AP and IB in FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are still bickering and I’m not sure OP
has even come back.

🤣 OP here. I've been reading but this thread is...a lot

I'm not sure what else to ask other than: why do people keep mentioning the inability to do IB and take extra curriculars. I'm big on the idea that kids should have well rounded school experiences. Is the extra coursework in IB problems so great that kids can't have outside activities. That doesn't sound like a great trade off but I could be misunderstanding.

Most AP parents know very little about IB and resort to criticizing it. I haven't read every single comment here but from quickly skimming the thread I didn't see any mention of the IB Program's built-in CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) project.

The CAS project is a requirement for the IB Diploma existing precisely for kids to explore extracurriculars of interest at a broad level. They create a documented portfolio of experiences during junior and senior years as they engage in activities across three categories. As you can see CAS is quite flexible to meet the needs of any type of kid - Creative/artistic, Activity/athletic, or Service/community involvement. Culminating in a long-term, open-ended project of their choosing.

Of course, as with anything, kids get out of it what they put in. Some anti-IB folks will call this kind of thing fluff and a waste of time. I've seen some excellent projects and some low-effort ones. But if taken seriously, it's a great opportunity for kids to accomplish something meaningful to them and goes beyond grades and academics.

If it a required part of the IB diploma curriculum, then it’s not really an extracurricular, isn’t it?

Agree with the previous poster that CAS sucks out any joy of doing something outside the school that you have a passion for.

I’m amazed at the extent at which IB cheerleaders will go to spin every crappy feature of the program into something amazing, all while assuming every is too dumb to see right through it.

I’m amazed at the extent to which some AP parents go to put IB down. It’s so odd esp. for those who don’t have first hand experience with it. I don’t see this anti-IB rhetoric outside of FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There have been years where some of the top AP schools like Langley, McLean, and Oakton each had as many National Merit Semifinalists as all eight of the IB schools in the county combined.

AP has more offerings/is better known for science classes and math classes. So it's more likely to capture the typical high stats, advanced in math kids. The effect isn't created after going through the curriculum, it's a result of what type of kid chooses what curriculum for high school.

IB is much more liberal-artsy.

If students are assigned randomly at AP and IB schools and AP kids outperform IB ones, then you can conclude it’s the curriculum that’s causing the lower performance.

Yikes please tell me you aren’t a researcher. Firstly, these kids aren’t randomly assigned to AP vs IB—-it’s based on address. And second, in order conclude anything—you need to control for other variables. Like SES, parents’ education level, English proficiency, MS coursework, etc. My guess is the aforementioned variables are more likely to impact a kid’s academic trajectory vs whether said kid takes IB vs AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Westfield Principal once described his AP program has teaching you what to think while the South Lakes Principal described IB as teaching you how to think. This was at a PTA event at our elementary school about 5 years ago.

Sounds ridiculously simplistic, whether that’s on your part or the part of the principals. Do better.

Definitely... as IB has a definite political bent also...

[Anonymous]

It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

If posters would only be allowed to post if they taught, enrolled or had kids in both programs, then there would be no thread and the OP could not ask for advice on the differences between AP and IB, which is a legitimate topic of discussion for parents that look into high school options for their kids.

Unfortunately in this thread we see the IB cheerleader sock puppet as the college English professor, the physician, the parent with three kids at top 10, etc all in an effort to counter arguments against IB. Not sure what her motivation is, probably it’s an IB high school admin lurking on parents forums. It is embarrassing for her, but that’s DCUM for you.

People have legitimate concerns about IB, because it’s a subpar overhyped program that ultimately will not be benefit to students. Parents are pissed because they don’t have the choice for their kids to switch to AP, so they are stuck with the IB crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

If posters would only be allowed to post if they taught, enrolled or had kids in both programs, then there would be no thread and the OP could not ask for advice on the differences between AP and IB, which is a legitimate topic of discussion for parents that look into high school options for their kids.

Unfortunately in this thread we see the IB cheerleader sock puppet as the college English professor, the physician, the parent with three kids at top 10, etc all in an effort to counter arguments against IB. Not sure what her motivation is, probably it’s an IB high school admin lurking on parents forums. It is embarrassing for her, but that’s DCUM for you.

People have legitimate concerns about IB, because it’s a subpar overhyped program that ultimately will not be benefit to students. Parents are pissed because they don’t have the choice for their kids to switch to AP, so they are stuck with the IB crap.

I'm not a sock puppet. I actually attended an IB school -- it was an application-based choice school that was competitive (grades, writing essays, and teacher recommendations if I remember correctly). It was a good experience and yes, I am a physician with kids who also completed the program at Robinson. I spoke with enough personal detail that it's pretty clear I'm not arguing that my experience was the best thing ever, but I do think the program was great and provided some detailed reasons why.

I really dislike the whole bashing on either side. I am sure there are great things about AP courses. I don't think we have to be crabs in a barrel. If anything, it's amazing all of these opportunities exist here -- where I grew up, it was a highly competitive process to get into an IB school that was similar to what people did for TJ (minus the test), but the other schools were awful with no real opportunities AP or otherwise.

We should just be thankful for the choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

If posters would only be allowed to post if they taught, enrolled or had kids in both programs, then there would be no thread and the OP could not ask for advice on the differences between AP and IB, which is a legitimate topic of discussion for parents that look into high school options for their kids.

Unfortunately in this thread we see the IB cheerleader sock puppet as the college English professor, the physician, the parent with three kids at top 10, etc all in an effort to counter arguments against IB. Not sure what her motivation is, probably it’s an IB high school admin lurking on parents forums. It is embarrassing for her, but that’s DCUM for you.

People have legitimate concerns about IB, because it’s a subpar overhyped program that ultimately will not be benefit to students. Parents are pissed because they don’t have the choice for their kids to switch to AP, so they are stuck with the IB crap.

I'm not a sock puppet. I actually attended an IB school -- it was an application-based choice school that was competitive (grades, writing essays, and teacher recommendations if I remember correctly). It was a good experience and yes, I am a physician with kids who also completed the program at Robinson. I spoke with enough personal detail that it's pretty clear I'm not arguing that my experience was the best thing ever, but I do think the program was great and provided some detailed reasons why.

I really dislike the whole bashing on either side. I am sure there are great things about AP courses. I don't think we have to be crabs in a barrel. If anything, it's amazing all of these opportunities exist here -- where I grew up, it was a highly competitive process to get into an IB school that was similar to what people did for TJ (minus the test), but the other schools were awful with no real opportunities AP or otherwise.

We should just be thankful for the choices.

+1 Agreed. I think both programs have pros/cons and a motivated kid will do well in either program. I think there is some projection going on with PP. It’s some of the AP parents who constantly put down IB vs the other way around. And if an IB parent chimes in to say anything positive about IB, she/he gets accused of being fake, unsophisticated, too dumb to know better, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

If posters would only be allowed to post if they taught, enrolled or had kids in both programs, then there would be no thread and the OP could not ask for advice on the differences between AP and IB, which is a legitimate topic of discussion for parents that look into high school options for their kids.

Unfortunately in this thread we see the IB cheerleader sock puppet as the college English professor, the physician, the parent with three kids at top 10, etc all in an effort to counter arguments against IB. Not sure what her motivation is, probably it’s an IB high school admin lurking on parents forums. It is embarrassing for her, but that’s DCUM for you.

People have legitimate concerns about IB, because it’s a subpar overhyped program that ultimately will not be benefit to students. Parents are pissed because they don’t have the choice for their kids to switch to AP, so they are stuck with the IB crap.

I'm not a sock puppet. I actually attended an IB school -- it was an application-based choice school that was competitive (grades, writing essays, and teacher recommendations if I remember correctly). It was a good experience and yes, I am a physician with kids who also completed the program at Robinson. I spoke with enough personal detail that it's pretty clear I'm not arguing that my experience was the best thing ever, but I do think the program was great and provided some detailed reasons why.

I really dislike the whole bashing on either side. I am sure there are great things about AP courses. I don't think we have to be crabs in a barrel. If anything, it's amazing all of these opportunities exist here -- where I grew up, it was a highly competitive process to get into an IB school that was similar to what people did for TJ (minus the test), but the other schools were awful with no real opportunities AP or otherwise.

We should just be thankful for the choices.

The problem is the lack of choice, and being stuck in an IB school. Fine if you want to take your kids there, but some parents are not happy with that arrangement.

IB threads are spammed by posters that just post unverifiable anecdotes about how great the program is, and love the argument from authority, like the college English professor, physician etc. what’s the point of mentioning your job in this thread, while your argument is empty of any substance? That’s why there’s blowback on the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so strange how invested people are in putting down IB to bolster AP.

I have a middle schooler, so no dog in the fight. But I find it ridiculous that anyone can speak to their experience unless they either taught in both types of schools, had two kids complete programs in both schools or completed one version themselves and had a child complete a different version.

Otherwise, it sounds like de facto school boosting. My school is great because reasons. Your program sucks because reasons. No, I don't have any experience in your program but it's in the poor schools and rich don't want it so it's bad. Forget Marshall, Robinson and South Lakes. Ghettttttttttttttto.

It's childish.

I'm in the Langley zone and am lazy, so I doubt my kid will choose to attend Marshall but really, it doesn't bother me one bit that the program is there and if my kid wanted it and I could drive them, I'd consider it.

If posters would only be allowed to post if they taught, enrolled or had kids in both programs, then there would be no thread and the OP could not ask for advice on the differences between AP and IB, which is a legitimate topic of discussion for parents that look into high school options for their kids.

Unfortunately in this thread we see the IB cheerleader sock puppet as the college English professor, the physician, the parent with three kids at top 10, etc all in an effort to counter arguments against IB. Not sure what her motivation is, probably it’s an IB high school admin lurking on parents forums. It is embarrassing for her, but that’s DCUM for you.

People have legitimate concerns about IB, because it’s a subpar overhyped program that ultimately will not be benefit to students. Parents are pissed because they don’t have the choice for their kids to switch to AP, so they are stuck with the IB crap.

I'm not a sock puppet. I actually attended an IB school -- it was an application-based choice school that was competitive (grades, writing essays, and teacher recommendations if I remember correctly). It was a good experience and yes, I am a physician with kids who also completed the program at Robinson. I spoke with enough personal detail that it's pretty clear I'm not arguing that my experience was the best thing ever, but I do think the program was great and provided some detailed reasons why.

I really dislike the whole bashing on either side. I am sure there are great things about AP courses. I don't think we have to be crabs in a barrel. If anything, it's amazing all of these opportunities exist here -- where I grew up, it was a highly competitive process to get into an IB school that was similar to what people did for TJ (minus the test), but the other schools were awful with no real opportunities AP or otherwise.

We should just be thankful for the choices.

The problem is the lack of choice, and being stuck in an IB school. Fine if you want to take your kids there, but some parents are not happy with that arrangement.

IB threads are spammed by posters that just post unverifiable anecdotes about how great the program is, and love the argument from authority, like the college English professor, physician etc. what’s the point of mentioning your job in this thread, while your argument is empty of any substance? That’s why there’s blowback on the thread.

I mentioned my job because I work in a STEM field. Being in medicine it was just a data point. Not the end all, but someone did indeed do an IB program and do well in STEM in college.

And I was critical of my experience in the program, fwiw. I found the high entry to turn it into a really unpleasant, competitive experience. I think the open enrollment experience my kids had to be much healthier. Again, just a data point.