why do people prefer AP schools to IB?

[Anonymous]

Interesting.. I'm from a country where IB is standard so for me it's the one I know best. In my country, if you're at a school with IB (there are other options too but less academic ones), then you do the whole IB. There's no option to just take some IB classes - everyone gets the IB diploma, that is the point of it. I think it's a great program and I'll be encouraging my kids to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting.. I'm from a country where IB is standard so for me it's the one I know best. In my country, if you're at a school with IB (there are other options too but less academic ones), then you do the whole IB. There's no option to just take some IB classes - everyone gets the IB diploma, that is the point of it. I think it's a great program and I'll be encouraging my kids to do it.

I'm sure that would be the case here too, if there weren't AP. But there is, and that's the preferred college preparatory curriculum in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So what this tells me is that FCPS misunderstood how to stem "white flight." It's not an argument about IB vs. AP, but rather, how do you keep the kids who prop up the test score at their zoned school, or even encourage higher-scoring kids to attend an OOB school? Answer: by giving them a highly selective program. It doesn't matter if it's AP or IB. It just matters that it's rigorous and acceptance is made difficult.

And, this is what happened. It didn't attract enough people at South Lakes, so the PTA (led by the IB parents with the assistance of Stu Gibson) led a boundary change initiative. If anyone recalls, it was South Lakes PTA which objected to the original proposal because it didn't include affluent kids.

These parents are the ones who claim to be so understanding and liberal--and, yet, their kids are pretty much segregated within the school. Just like the AAP programs. The AAP programs were expanded so that more AA kids would get in--but, the result was that the program expanded so much that it is no longer what it was originally. And, the proportion of AA and Hispanic kids is no higher.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with any AP school in FCPS that had to be shored up the way that FCPS expanded the South Lakes boundaries to revive that struggling school and its IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting.. I'm from a country where IB is standard so for me it's the one I know best. In my country, if you're at a school with IB (there are other options too but less academic ones), then you do the whole IB. There's no option to just take some IB classes - everyone gets the IB diploma, that is the point of it. I think it's a great program and I'll be encouraging my kids to do it.

I'm sure that would be the case here too, if there weren't AP. But there is, and that's the preferred college preparatory curriculum in this country.

Preferred? By you, yes.

OP, do your own research rather than relying on forums where parents make vast, blanket pronouncements about what every college wants or what every IB or AP school offers.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any real examples of college or university preference for AP or IB? We went through the application process last year and found no preference for one over the other with the dramatic exception of Bryn Mawr which offered a semester of credit to IB diploma recipients with certain scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting.. I'm from a country where IB is standard so for me it's the one I know best. In my country, if you're at a school with IB (there are other options too but less academic ones), then you do the whole IB. There's no option to just take some IB classes - everyone gets the IB diploma, that is the point of it. I think it's a great program and I'll be encouraging my kids to do it.

I'm sure that would be the case here too, if there weren't AP. But there is, and that's the preferred college preparatory curriculum in this country.

Preferred? By you, yes.

OP, do your own research rather than relying on forums where parents make vast, blanket pronouncements about what every college wants or what every IB or AP school offers.

It is easy to confirm that the number of AP exams taken at high schools in NoVa is much higher than the number of IB exams, as well as that the SAT scores at area AP high schools are higher than at the IB schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any real examples of college or university preference for AP or IB? We went through the application process last year and found no preference for one over the other with the dramatic exception of Bryn Mawr which offered a semester of credit to IB diploma recipients with certain scores.

My understanding is that colleges are very impressed by IB Diplomas, but since very very few students get the diplomas, IB classes a la carte are not viewed more or less favorably than AP classes a la carte.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any real examples of college or university preference for AP or IB? We went through the application process last year and found no preference for one over the other with the dramatic exception of Bryn Mawr which offered a semester of credit to IB diploma recipients with certain scores.

My understanding is that colleges are very impressed by IB Diplomas, but since very very few students get the diplomas, IB classes a la carte are not viewed more or less favorably than AP classes a la carte.

IB diplomas aren't viewed any more favorably than students taking a significant number of AP courses.

The top schools in NoVa are almost entirely AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't understand why one is preferable to the other.... is there some major difference academically?

As PPs have noted, AP is more "a la carte" and, in FCPS at least, tends to be the college-prep curriculum in most of the top schools.

Conversely, FCPS put IB in a number of struggling schools in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the thought that it would stem white flight by creating "school-within-a-school" environments. It hasn't worked out that way - the poor schools with IB, like Lee, Mount Vernon, and Stuart, are generally considered worse than they were 15-20 years ago.

One exception to the overall trend of installing IB at the lower-ranked schools was Woodson, which FCPS tried to convert from AP to IB years ago. The parents revolted and AP was restored to the school. In addition, because of the pupil placement policies in FCPS, parents who want their kids to attend higher SES schools often can pupil place their kids out of an IB school to a nearby AP school, space permitting. As a result, schools like Lee end up losing many top students to AP schools like West Springfield and Lake Braddock.

IB has its local HQ in Bethesda, and every IB school has a dedicated "IB Coordinator" responsible for promoting IB. They monitor these threads closely, and try to convince people that IB is superior to AP. However, as the title of your thread acknowledges, most people prefer AP schools to IB. We personally have been in both and prefer the AP environment. Most of the students take plenty of AP courses, and there is no divide similar to what we found at the IB school between the IB diploma candidates and, well, everyone else.

^ Best response to OP's question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So what this tells me is that FCPS misunderstood how to stem "white flight." It's not an argument about IB vs. AP, but rather, how do you keep the kids who prop up the test score at their zoned school, or even encourage higher-scoring kids to attend an OOB school? Answer: by giving them a highly selective program. It doesn't matter if it's AP or IB. It just matters that it's rigorous and acceptance is made difficult.

And, this is what happened. It didn't attract enough people at South Lakes, so the PTA (led by the IB parents with the assistance of Stu Gibson) led a boundary change initiative. If anyone recalls, it was South Lakes PTA which objected to the original proposal because it didn't include affluent kids.

These parents are the ones who claim to be so understanding and liberal--and, yet, their kids are pretty much segregated within the school. Just like the AAP programs. The AAP programs were expanded so that more AA kids would get in--but, the result was that the program expanded so much that it is no longer what it was originally. And, the proportion of AA and Hispanic kids is no higher.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with any AP school in FCPS that had to be shored up the way that FCPS expanded the South Lakes boundaries to revive that struggling school and its IB program.

So are you saying that if FCPS had instead used AP for all schools that socioeconomic segregation would not have increased during this time period? Or are you saying that you don't want the county in the business of attempting to address socioeconomic segregation with your tax dollars? Please clarify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any real examples of college or university preference for AP or IB? We went through the application process last year and found no preference for one over the other with the dramatic exception of Bryn Mawr which offered a semester of credit to IB diploma recipients with certain scores.

My kids went to different colleges. Both had roommates who graduated from IB schools in Fairfax County, and I think both had IB diplomas. Both said they wished they had AP in their schools because the AP students received more credit for their courses. Also, I think I understood that it took awhile for DD's roommate to get confirmation that she received the IB diploma--waiting for test scores or something? Can't remember the exact details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So what this tells me is that FCPS misunderstood how to stem "white flight." It's not an argument about IB vs. AP, but rather, how do you keep the kids who prop up the test score at their zoned school, or even encourage higher-scoring kids to attend an OOB school? Answer: by giving them a highly selective program. It doesn't matter if it's AP or IB. It just matters that it's rigorous and acceptance is made difficult.

And, this is what happened. It didn't attract enough people at South Lakes, so the PTA (led by the IB parents with the assistance of Stu Gibson) led a boundary change initiative. If anyone recalls, it was South Lakes PTA which objected to the original proposal because it didn't include affluent kids.

These parents are the ones who claim to be so understanding and liberal--and, yet, their kids are pretty much segregated within the school. Just like the AAP programs. The AAP programs were expanded so that more AA kids would get in--but, the result was that the program expanded so much that it is no longer what it was originally. And, the proportion of AA and Hispanic kids is no higher.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with any AP school in FCPS that had to be shored up the way that FCPS expanded the South Lakes boundaries to revive that struggling school and its IB program.

So are you saying that if FCPS had instead used AP for all schools that socioeconomic segregation would not have increased during this time period? Or are you saying that you don't want the county in the business of attempting to address socioeconomic segregation with your tax dollars? Please clarify.

Read the words. I said I'm not aware of any local AP high school where the parents asked for a concerted "rescue effort," such as occurred a while back at South Lakes, an IB school. Against the wishes of parents at three AP high schools - Oakton, Westfield, and Madison - neighborhoods were moved to South Lakes to address the school's declining enrollment and bolster the IB program.

If you want to argue South Lakes would have been in the same boat had it been AP, go ahead. But you won't be able to find an AP school in FCPS that requested a similar intervention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So what this tells me is that FCPS misunderstood how to stem "white flight." It's not an argument about IB vs. AP, but rather, how do you keep the kids who prop up the test score at their zoned school, or even encourage higher-scoring kids to attend an OOB school? Answer: by giving them a highly selective program. It doesn't matter if it's AP or IB. It just matters that it's rigorous and acceptance is made difficult.

And, this is what happened. It didn't attract enough people at South Lakes, so the PTA (led by the IB parents with the assistance of Stu Gibson) led a boundary change initiative. If anyone recalls, it was South Lakes PTA which objected to the original proposal because it didn't include affluent kids.

These parents are the ones who claim to be so understanding and liberal--and, yet, their kids are pretty much segregated within the school. Just like the AAP programs. The AAP programs were expanded so that more AA kids would get in--but, the result was that the program expanded so much that it is no longer what it was originally. And, the proportion of AA and Hispanic kids is no higher.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with any AP school in FCPS that had to be shored up the way that FCPS expanded the South Lakes boundaries to revive that struggling school and its IB program.

So are you saying that if FCPS had instead used AP for all schools that socioeconomic segregation would not have increased during this time period? Or are you saying that you don't want the county in the business of attempting to address socioeconomic segregation with your tax dollars? Please clarify.

Read the words. I said I'm not aware of any local AP high school where the parents asked for a concerted "rescue effort," such as occurred a while back at South Lakes, an IB school. Against the wishes of parents at three AP high schools - Oakton, Westfield, and Madison - neighborhoods were moved to South Lakes to address the school's declining enrollment and bolster the IB program.

If you want to argue South Lakes would have been in the same boat had it been AP, go ahead. But you won't be able to find an AP school in FCPS that requested a similar intervention.

I'm not in FCPS, so I don't know and I'm asking you. Do YOU think South Lakes would have been in the same situation if it had been AP? Are you mad that your house got rezoned to South Lakes, or mad that your house was rezoned to an IB school?

[Anonymous]

LOL OP. IB over AP anytime!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL OP. IB over AP anytime!!

LOL indeed. If you're stuck with IB, make the best of it.