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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid, who had 8 APs with scores of 5 by end of junior year, got an offer on the condition that he submit an official score report from the College Board.  Seems that, for foreigners applying to Oxbridge, the AP curriculum is more advantageous than IB for this reason.[/quote]

It is just that the IB scores are only available in July. UK schools therefore select IB students based on predicted scores but want to see the actual scores before making a firm offer. I think IB is an excellent option as IB scores have been less subject to grade inflation than GPAs/APs and are therefore easier to assess.[/quote]

Oxbridge look at AP scores, not AP grades.  It doesn't matter if your teacher gave you an A+ in AP Chem.  If you got a 4 on the AP exam, that won't meet the Oxbridge minimum.

Oxbridge admissions are a bit of a black box, but it seems that they are aware of grade inflation and look to exams as an equalizer much more than teacher-assigned grades (esp. predicted IB or A-level grades).  In the UK, they care about earned GCSEs much more than predicted A-levels.

IB scores come out after high school graduation. AP scores drip in each year. If a student has more than 5 AP scores of 5 in October of senior year AND they do very well on the required tests (MAT, TSA, etc), they are likely to be taken seriously by the committee that makes up the short list.  Then, about two out of three are eliminated at the interview stage.

I was not suggesting that AP is superior to IB for any other reason than (possibly) Oxbridge admissions.  Conditional offers are awful for US students -- American kids don't regularly face that pressure at the end of senior -- so having the AP box checked is better.[/quote]

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