AP, DE, or IB?

[Anonymous]

I think y'all are overthinking this. Largely, whether a child undertakes IB or AP or DE is based on decisions made when they are 14, and then maybe 16.

AOs want to see that you excelled at what you chose, but they are not sitting around evaluating "Larla could have chosen an IB school, but chose an AP school after finishing 8th grade."

The task isn't to make the "right" choice at 14, it is to blow the lid off whatever you did choose, and to look good compared to the rest of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

Whenever people compare AP and IB, inevitably AP wins on number of courses and the IB people come back with, “we also have a diploma!” Whoopty freaking doo, good for you! Couldn’t care less!

I have never heard someone brag about the IB diploma. The IB coursework is what’s valuable and far more rigorous than AP classes.

Signed,
Parent of RMIB graduate at a Top 10 university (with IB HS friends currently at CalTech, MIT and Ivies)

Have you considered it's the quality the students at RMIB that lands them at those schools, not the IB? The same student doing mostly APs at RM could still end up at CalTech, MIT and ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

Whenever people compare AP and IB, inevitably AP wins on number of courses and the IB people come back with, “we also have a diploma!” Whoopty freaking doo, good for you! Couldn’t care less!

NP. I don't think the diploma matters, but I think the ability to write clearly and effectively is likely better with IB than AP. I think what's better for a kid depends on their interests. But I think anyone going for either AP or IB is going to have a career where writing is essential, and I just don't think AP is as strong on that. On the other hand, if a kid were intent on a STEM career I think AP would be the way to go.

This seems like such a stretch. It’s not like there’s no writing in AP to begin with. At least for DE, if writing is your interest you can take writing specific classes in creative writing, technical writing etc, that are a much better preparation than the entire IB program. All students go to college where they do college papers and a thesis several hundred pages long under the supervision of a college professor to be prepared for their future career. By the time they graduate, whatever paper they wrote in 12th grade will matter very little.

At best IB might be a better preparation for the first year of college, but even that is quite debatable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a young elementary children in the RM cluster. Which is more impressive to t25 colleges when they get to high school, taking the AP path or the IB path? For STEM, it sounds like AP. Is that true? And if not STEM, which one?

Nice trolling.

[Anonymous]

I don't know y'all. With AI taking over everything, I wonder how many jobs in CS/eng *or* humanities based there's going to be. I use AI regularly in my job, and it's definitely cut both my coding *and* writing down by 20%. This discussion of IB vs DE vs AP seems like it's going to be irrelevant in 10 years. I think AI can probably do half of white collar jobs already at a reasonable level, or at least it's just a few years away.

Personally, I'm advising my kids to look into medicine or health related careers. I don't see those jobs going away for a few decades at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think y'all are overthinking this. Largely, whether a child undertakes IB or AP or DE is based on decisions made when they are 14, and then maybe 16.

AOs want to see that you excelled at what you chose, but they are not sitting around evaluating "Larla could have chosen an IB school, but chose an AP school after finishing 8th grade."

The task isn't to make the "right" choice at 14, it is to blow the lid off whatever you did choose, and to look good compared to the rest of the school.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think y'all are overthinking this. Largely, whether a child undertakes IB or AP or DE is based on decisions made when they are 14, and then maybe 16.

AOs want to see that you excelled at what you chose, but they are not sitting around evaluating "Larla could have chosen an IB school, but chose an AP school after finishing 8th grade."

The task isn't to make the "right" choice at 14, it is to blow the lid off whatever you did choose, and to look good compared to the rest of the school.

Of course it’s important to excel in what you do, but the choices do matter, there are programs and schools that are good or bad. Kids can do things now to become the student that stands out in their college applications.

I disagree that you’re only competing within your school, you’re also competing with the rest of the world. It’s not like MIT reserves a seat for every high school in MCPS and you only need to be the best in that school. You have to become the caliber of student MIT is looking for.

Even within the same school, how do you stand out? You can take up more APs, enroll in DE if your school doesn’t offer MV calculus, etc. This is where IB falls short, it’s hard to go above and beyond to stand out. You can’t take more than three high level classes and you’re stuck with the 6 classes you picked, only thing left is getting better grades which won’t be a significant differentiator. The rigidity of the IB program is holding the top students back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think y'all are overthinking this. Largely, whether a child undertakes IB or AP or DE is based on decisions made when they are 14, and then maybe 16.

AOs want to see that you excelled at what you chose, but they are not sitting around evaluating "Larla could have chosen an IB school, but chose an AP school after finishing 8th grade."

The task isn't to make the "right" choice at 14, it is to blow the lid off whatever you did choose, and to look good compared to the rest of the school.

Of course it’s important to excel in what you do, but the choices do matter, there are programs and schools that are good or bad. Kids can do things now to become the student that stands out in their college applications.

I disagree that you’re only competing within your school, you’re also competing with the rest of the world. It’s not like MIT reserves a seat for every high school in MCPS and you only need to be the best in that school. You have to become the caliber of student MIT is looking for.

Even within the same school, how do you stand out? You can take up more APs, enroll in DE if your school doesn’t offer MV calculus, etc. This is where IB falls short, it’s hard to go above and beyond to stand out. You can’t take more than three high level classes and you’re stuck with the 6 classes you picked, only thing left is getting better grades which won’t be a significant differentiator. The rigidity of the IB program is holding the top students back.

Why are you so weirdly invested in hating on the IB program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

Whenever people compare AP and IB, inevitably AP wins on number of courses and the IB people come back with, “we also have a diploma!” Whoopty freaking doo, good for you! Couldn’t care less!

I have never heard someone brag about the IB diploma. The IB coursework is what’s valuable and far more rigorous than AP classes.

Signed,
Parent of RMIB graduate at a Top 10 university (with IB HS friends currently at CalTech, MIT and Ivies)

Have you considered it's the quality the students at RMIB that lands them at those schools, not the IB? The same student doing mostly APs at RM could still end up at CalTech, MIT and ivies.

This. I’d add to it the quality of the curriculum at RMIB. If he also took 5 APs and MVC in addition to the regular IB classes, then it’s the IB, AP, and DE classes that got them into the Top 10 college.

I’d be interested to know why you say IB classes were far more rigorous than APs. You’d have to enroll in the same class in both AP and IB to compare apples to apples.

If you look at how colleges compare them, a 5 in AP is a 7 in IB, 4 in AP is 6 in IB etc, they are equivalent to each other.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for DE.

If you look at the top school in the district, ahem, Blair, ahem, the recipe for success is to bring the strong students together, and do combination of AP and DE classes.

Math alone is the typical coursework at a community college: MV Calculus/Differential equations, linear algebra, discrete math, complex analysis. Calculus and statistics are offered as AP.

Seems like their approach is to bring the community college to high school. If you get into Blair you have the best of everything in one place: good curriculum, strong student cohort and the competitiveness and grinding to ruin your high school years. If you don’t get into Blair or the commute is too far, take the AP classes at your school, and commute to the community college for the DE classes. Yeah, you still have to commute. It won’t be the insane grind, your peers won’t be as bright, but you might be able to stand out more.

[Anonymous]

It used to be that the college admissions race was about who gets to take most APs and dig wells in Africa. The new zeitgeist is loading on advanced undergrad classes and starting a nonprofit. Ten years ago, taking multivariable calculus was not fashionable, ten years from now people will chase something else for an edge in admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

If your plan is to shorten undergrad by a year then I agree AP or DE is the way to go.

I also agree that the actual IB diploma is granted when a HS diploma is, so after all the college decisions are made.

But when people talk about the diploma program they are talking about an entire program that has rigor and the rigor of that program does seem to be recognized by colleges based on my limited experience and research. It also seems to prepare kids very well for college, again based on my experience.

So for both those reasons I’d rather my kid do IB than additional APs but ymmv— some kids prefer doing APs only or a mix of both AP. And IB, and some kids find the HL 2 year sequences limiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

If your plan is to shorten undergrad by a year then I agree AP or DE is the way to go.

I also agree that the actual IB diploma is granted when a HS diploma is, so after all the college decisions are made.

But when people talk about the diploma program they are talking about an entire program that has rigor and the rigor of that program does seem to be recognized by colleges based on my limited experience and research. It also seems to prepare kids very well for college, again based on my experience.

So for both those reasons I’d rather my kid do IB than additional APs but ymmv— some kids prefer doing APs only or a mix of both AP. And IB, and some kids find the HL 2 year sequences limiting.

Not sure I understand, because you say the diploma doesn’t matter, but then say the program matters.

I’m wondering if a student can take 6 high level classes instead and not do the diploma. Does it mean he is not eligible to do the Theory of knowledge, extended essay and service requirement, is there a downside to it on how colleges see it? Or take 3 HL and fill the rest with a combination of AP and DE. Is the strength of the IB diploma program the extras, like the theory of knowledge and extended essays, or the two year long classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

If your plan is to shorten undergrad by a year then I agree AP or DE is the way to go.

I also agree that the actual IB diploma is granted when a HS diploma is, so after all the college decisions are made.

But when people talk about the diploma program they are talking about an entire program that has rigor and the rigor of that program does seem to be recognized by colleges based on my limited experience and research. It also seems to prepare kids very well for college, again based on my experience.

So for both those reasons I’d rather my kid do IB than additional APs but ymmv— some kids prefer doing APs only or a mix of both AP. And IB, and some kids find the HL 2 year sequences limiting.

Not sure I understand, because you say the diploma doesn’t matter, but then say the program matters.

I’m wondering if a student can take 6 high level classes instead and not do the diploma. Does it mean he is not eligible to do the Theory of knowledge, extended essay and service requirement, is there a downside to it on how colleges see it? Or take 3 HL and fill the rest with a combination of AP and DE. Is the strength of the IB diploma program the extras, like the theory of knowledge and extended essays, or the two year long classes?

Yes, you can do all of the classes and not do the diploma. I don't know why you would, but you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They all have find their niche and face unique challenges.

AP is the known quantity, the baseline to compare everything against. It’s most recognized easiest to get college credit etc. their latest. Some of the classes feel like a filler, Human Geography, environmental science. There’s also a tier of not quite college classes I’d add to this AP physics 1 and 2, maybe AP statistics. Their latest course AP precalculus was not received too well.

DE is publicly funded but enrollment is trending down, they see high school student enrollment as a way to bolster their numbers so they market aggressively. I actually like what I read about the early college program. Some people look down at DE, and you may not get the credit for out of state transfer, but usually guaranteed at in state institutions. In general they seem to be easier than AP in terms of content and grading when you compare the difficult classes: calculus, chemistry, English, foreign language. You can get a college AA degree before finishing high school, which is a tangible accomplishment.

IB niche is the package deal, kind of like integrated math but it’s across two years and six subjects and they put a lot of emphasis on writing. I think it’s great for students needing more guidance and attention as opposed to the sink or swim approach. You can get a diploma in the end as a recognition if you take the class exams. I’m not aware of it being considered as a formal degree like AA, although it may be the case at some lower ranked colleges.

They are all fine, probably it’s more important to focus on the fit and student interest before deciding.

Is there a value to the IB diploma except for some kind of proof of challenging coursework, and good scores, ie bragging rights? I guess they are all for bragging rights, but can you brag more for some of them lol? In other words, what’s going to impress colleges more?

Not much value besides the bragging rights. Some people say IB is a lot of busy work. I wouldn’t call it exactly busy work, but there’s a lot of effort in the diploma, writing assignments, volunteering that doesn’t translate into a tangible academic outcome. The diploma certifies that the work was done, but it doesn’t look as impressive as the kid with a ton of APs classes.

Doesn't look as impressive to whom?

It doesn’t look as impressive to me. Let’s be real here, what looks better on a college application, an IB Diploma or 6 additional APs? I’ll take the APs any day.

+1.

What’s the actual value of the IB Diploma, it’s a piece of paper for bragging rights as a previous poster put it very eloquently.

In all seriousness, you can put an actual monetary value on the credits AP and DE classes can save in tuition towards the same undergrad degree. You can get credits from the IB HL classes too, but the diploma, eeeerh, shrug.

If your plan is to shorten undergrad by a year then I agree AP or DE is the way to go.

I also agree that the actual IB diploma is granted when a HS diploma is, so after all the college decisions are made.

But when people talk about the diploma program they are talking about an entire program that has rigor and the rigor of that program does seem to be recognized by colleges based on my limited experience and research. It also seems to prepare kids very well for college, again based on my experience.

So for both those reasons I’d rather my kid do IB than additional APs but ymmv— some kids prefer doing APs only or a mix of both AP. And IB, and some kids find the HL 2 year sequences limiting.

Not sure I understand, because you say the diploma doesn’t matter, but then say the program matters.

I’m wondering if a student can take 6 high level classes instead and not do the diploma. Does it mean he is not eligible to do the Theory of knowledge, extended essay and service requirement, is there a downside to it on how colleges see it? Or take 3 HL and fill the rest with a combination of AP and DE. Is the strength of the IB diploma program the extras, like the theory of knowledge and extended essays, or the two year long classes?

Yes, you can do all of the classes and not do the diploma. I don't know why you would, but you can.

That was the question I asked, if you do classes only but none of the TOK and EE extras is it seen as less rigorous?