Summer courses, self study for multiple other AP classes, test prep, etc… on top of regular IB courses? You think this is is healthy for your kids? Yikes

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

+1 It's this.

My DC took maybe 7 AP classes in addition to all the IB classes, but they took like 12 AP tests. Self studied, as did their friends.

What classes did they self study for? If it’s classes like environment sciences or psychology, it’s a waste of time, and frankly it’s not that favorably looked upon. Classes that matter like Calculus, Statistics, physics, chemistry, biology are not easy to self study for, and it probably is a bad idea to even attempt that route.

You don't need to "self-study". You study in the corresponding IB class.

No, you definitely need to self-study a lot of content. IB classes don’t teach all the same stuff as IB classes.

If your child loves band, let her keep it. Music is a great outlet

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

+1 It's this.

My DC took maybe 7 AP classes in addition to all the IB classes, but they took like 12 AP tests. Self studied, as did their friends.

What classes did they self study for? If it’s classes like environment sciences or psychology, it’s a waste of time, and frankly it’s not that favorably looked upon. Classes that matter like Calculus, Statistics, physics, chemistry, biology are not easy to self study for, and it probably is a bad idea to even attempt that route.

You don't need to "self-study". You study in the corresponding IB class.

Anonymous wrote:Talk with your IB Coordinator. They typically make a 2-year plan/4-year plan with your students and can help them figure out how to tailor the diploma to meet their needs, take the classes they want and complete all the graduation requirements. They are very knowledgeable ☺️

And the IB coordinator will also know what HL/SL options will be available for each subject area.

The math in particular gets complicated because there are two different courses, each potentially with its own HL and SL options.

It’s definitely helpful to start planning early in their high school career, though, because getting the graduation requirements out of the way early can give them more flexibility when schedules get complicated in 11th and 12th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

+1 It's this.

My DC took maybe 7 AP classes in addition to all the IB classes, but they took like 12 AP tests. Self studied, as did their friends.

What classes did they self study for? If it’s classes like environment sciences or psychology, it’s a waste of time, and frankly it’s not that favorably looked upon. Classes that matter like Calculus, Statistics, physics, chemistry, biology are not easy to self study for, and it probably is a bad idea to even attempt that route.

IB kids self study for the AP equivalent of their IB courses. (It’s an adjustment for style and some mismatch of content.)
IB English HL —> AP Lang, AP Lit
IB Math HL —> AP BC Calculus (with AB subscore)
IB History —> AP Mod World (plus AP Gov, APUSH in 9th and 10th)
IB Spanish/French/Chinese —> AP Sp/Fr/Ch Language (gets bilingual diploma)
IB Physics 1 —> AP Physics C - mechanics
IB Chemistry —> AP Chemistry
IB ESS —> APES
and then there are several IB electives with equivalent AP tests. Most IB students have at least 8 AP test just from their regular IB program. The reason they take the AP tests is that they don’t include the IA score that the IB score does and it’s easier to predict/get a 5 on AP than a 6/7 on IB.

Talk with your IB Coordinator. They typically make a 2-year plan/4-year plan with your students and can help them figure out how to tailor the diploma to meet their needs, take the classes they want and complete all the graduation requirements. They are very knowledgeable ☺️

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

+1 It's this.

My DC took maybe 7 AP classes in addition to all the IB classes, but they took like 12 AP tests. Self studied, as did their friends.

What classes did they self study for? If it’s classes like environment sciences or psychology, it’s a waste of time, and frankly it’s not that favorably looked upon. Classes that matter like Calculus, Statistics, physics, chemistry, biology are not easy to self study for, and it probably is a bad idea to even attempt that route.

She shouldn’t do IB if her goal is to load up on AP classes. You seem to be too unfocused and wanting to have the cake and eat it too. Unless you have a very good reason to get into the IBDP, AP offers more flexibility and is a more familiar quantity for universities. For STEM oriented students AP is almost always the better path.

Btw the self study advice in the thread is just terrible, an AP exam alone has much less weight than the exam plus a grade in the class. Taking the AP exam at the end of an IB class is fine, but again, you need to have a good reason for choosing the IB to begin with.

Choosing between AP Stats and AP Psychology is bizarre. AP Stat is part of the math sequence, has nothing to do with Psychology. Strong math students take AP Stats along Precalculus in freshman year, to make room for more advanced classes later on. Students that want to avoid a math intensive path take AP stats later, often instead of Calculus BC.

Anonymous wrote:Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

+1 It's this.

My DC took maybe 7 AP classes in addition to all the IB classes, but they took like 12 AP tests. Self studied, as did their friends.

AP Stats can count as one of the 4 required math courses. AP Psych is a social studies elective.

Get her mandatory classes like PE and Health Ed done first. Health Ed you can do over the summer. I wouldn't wait till 12th to do it.

Some students self study for the AP exams but do not take the classes.

Jesus lady - your poor kid. Give it a break. LET HER PICK HER CLASSES

Hi, my dd is a freshman at RMIB and now in process for planning the course registration especially for next year, but also trying to figure out for her jr and sr year. Couple of questions here- TIA!!!

1. 10th: AP stat vs AP Pyschology
She has one room to pick next year along with the band class. If she wants to study medicine in college, which one would be better between AP stat and psych? She said she is fine with either one. Is AP stat more a core subject and AP psych closer to an elective?

2. 11th: with TOK, she has one room left again and wants to do band in that period. But not sure if she should take physics c with AP calc BC that year as RM doesn’t offer physics 1 and she doesn’t want to take IB physics HL. She will probably take either IB bio or IB chem.

3. 12th: Finally she has three rooms that can fill in. But two of them have to be PE and IB SL(she is thinking IB Econ). So, yeah, technically one left. She wants to keep the band, but would it look like her course selection isn’t challenging enough in her sr year on the college application? In case of keeping band, she will have PE and band but no AP at all that year. Would it be better to take AP stat if she didn’t in 10th or vice versa?

I heard many IB kids still try to take AP classes as many as they can. Keeping band for 4 years, my dd will probably have much fewer than her peers, only like 5. Realistically, how many AP classes in general do RMIB kids take? I read the posts here and someone mentioned 10-16… is that really common? I think we are worried that her transcript can look too naive with 5 APs compared to 10-16. But even without the band, she will end up with 7 APs, how do others take 10? Are we missing something here?