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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most US schools don’t understand how to teach IB, and most US colleges don’t understand what it takes to get high IB scores. It’s not like getting a 5/5 on an AP exam. Because of this, my kids are going the AP route. AP courses have a higher chance class of being well taught and colleges like seeing 4s and 5s, which is perfectly doable for studious kids.
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IB teacher here. I’m clearly biased, but I really disagree with your statement. My students’ scores suggest I’m doing well teaching the course. I feel pretty confident that US teachers can handle IB. I attend annual trainings and I am regularly impressed by the teachers I meet. Over the years we have formed various cohorts to share resources, what worked / didn’t, insights on scores, etc.

My own children will be going the IB route because I appreciate the emphasis IB places on depth of study.

As for colleges, you can no longer say colleges prefer AP over IB, etc. So many schools are going in different directions now and there isn’t a clear trend to follow. Take AP or IB for the rigorous course load, not just because they can potentially give you college credits. [/quote]

PP you replied to. I'm sure you are an excellent teacher, and your students are a credit to you. But there is data out there showing that many high schools in this country claim they are IB schools without properly training their teachers, which leads to poor scores on the exams. Just count yourself lucky you're not in one of those, and that you personally have higher standards. Also, you misunderstood my last point. Selective colleges sometimes hold IB students to a higher bar, score-wise, than AP students, because, again, they do not understand that the scoring system is different. Of course, in today's admissions, neither score may matter much at all. But it is well-known that IB students' work is not as recognized as AP students' work.

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I would guess that this depends on the college.  I'm a professor and it seems that there are a lot of IB diploma candidates among the students that get our primary merit awards and are in our honors college--a lot more than you would expect given that IB is rarer than AP in the US.  I think for selective schools with holistic admissions (e.g., T50 liberal arts colleges, smaller selective universities like UVA and William & Mary), an IB diploma candidate might stand out.    [/quote]

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