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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You also have to realize that IB will slow down the most advanced kids. You are limited in the number of HL classes and IB is limited to the last two years of high school. My most advanced kid chose AP instead of IB at one of MCPS’ school IB programs. The key was that she has AP classes in all areas - English, Calculus, History, Govt, Sci, Foreign Language. [/quote]

They really limit the number of HLs you can take? Or are you saying there just isn't a way to fit in as many as a kid would want becuase each takes 2 years?[/quote]

"Each student takes at least three (but not more than four) subjects at higher level, and the remaining at standard level."

https://www.ibo.org/university-admission/support-students-transition-to-higher-education/course-selection-guidance/[/quote]

This is the issue with IB. Top students will take about 15 AP’s, while IB students take at most 4 high level (HL). For the extended essay, AP also has the diploma program with AP Research and AP Seminar. Few high schools offer it, but there’s also the option for online. IB is less flexible and in my view not the best choice for the top student.[/quote]

IB is 11th grade and 12th grade only. During 9th grade and 10th grade, "top students" take APs. In addition, universities give credit for IB SL classes as well as IB HL classes. For example, University of Maryland College Park: https://www.transfercredit.umd.edu/plc/IBGenEd.pdf[/quote]

Not sure you actually read the link you posted. [b]Take math for example,[/b] it only gives credit for HL for Calculus I and Statistics 100, no credit for SL. The distribution of APs is not the same over all high school years. Often strong students take 10 APs in 11th and 12th, compared to 4 HL for IB. It is still in favor of AP. You can do a combination of IB and AP but it just highlights that IB is not that great of a program on its own.[/quote]

There are a lot of other SL classes that UMD does give credit for. Math is not everything. Plus if you're a math person, you're taking HL, not SL.

Are AP and IB the same? No, but then nobody said they are. HL classes are two-year classes, so yes, if your goal is to have the largest number of tests, then you should do AP, not IB. [/quote]

Math is not everything, but it certainly part of the foundation for any STEM career, plus some in social sciences like Economics, I’d add business as well. I’ve seen estimates that a third of college students need to pass calculus for their major, that’s not insignificant. Math is often the reason students drop out of these majors.

Compare the IB math offering with AP. For one AP is better aligned with the typical curriculum, and it follows the sequence Alg1, Geo, Alg2, Precalc, Calculus, Statistics. IB advanced math is a mix of algebra, precalculus, calculus and statistics and often there’s material repeating or not covered in previous classes. [b]A typical strong student that completed geometry before entering high school will have taken AP Calculus and AP statistics by the end of high school.[/b]

I’d advise anyone considering IB to compare the syllabus of AP Calculus and statistics with IB advanced math. It’s hands down better for AP. Also you’d get 180 hours instruction time in AP Calculus but only 55 hours for the calculus portion of IB. Same story for statistics. IB can be harder because it has less instruction time and it moves faster, and not because it’s more rigorous.[/quote]

Or they will have taken one of the 2 HL IB math classes by the end of high school.

It's true, I think, that lots of APs is a better pathway than the IB Diploma Programme for a student who only wants to focus as much as possible on math and science classes, with a minimum of humanities, reading, writing, or thinking about thinking. Now, if you asked me, I would say that even the most STEM-focused person needs to have good communication skills. And where better to start learning those skills than in high school? But you didn't ask me.[/quote]

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