Reply to AP vs. IB for science/math/technology kid?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My oldest is a math and science kid also. We will be placing into IB. He doesn't like writing and couldn't care less about philosophy and world views...but that is exactly why we think IB would be best for him. I know he will rise to the challenge and a math and science kid who has great writing skills and a holistic education (not one just loaded with AP math and science classes) is going to do much better in college and in life. [/quote]

+1 We are doing the same thing. [/quote]

How sad that parents are forcing kids into IB programs against their will.  No wonder the percentage of students getting IB diplomas at those schools is abysmally low (3-20%).  [/quote]

I am the 22:45 and 22:51.  This is exactly what we did with my oldest who loves science and history but wanted to take as much science as possible in high school.  We strongly encouraged he do full IB and so he signed up for junior year classes to be full IB.  As junior year progressed he grew increasingly unhappy.  Junior year of high school for the majority of these super smart kids is stressful enough in Nova - and it was a poor decision on our part to add to the stress by encouraging him to take a couple classes required for IB that he had no real interest in.  So senior year we let him make the choice completely on his own and he took a combination of AP and IB classes.  The school put pressure on him to stay full IB because, at least at our school, the majority of the students who earn an IB diploma are girls and the school didn't want to lose another boy from the program.  And we learned our lesson for son number 2 who is a science kid too.  We were fortunate that our high school had both IB and AP - perhaps other IB high schools don't have both.

As far as great writing skills and "a holistic education" - I am not sure why anyone would think that's not possible with AP.  My sons still took AP English and AP foreign languages and were accepted at highly competitive small liberal arts colleges, something that wouldn't have happened if they didn't have excellent writing skills and a generally well-rounded education.

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