IB is more widely understood by college admissions in Europe than in the US. A growing number of US colleges are starting to understand IB.

By contrast, AP is almost universally understood by admissions people at US colleges.

AP better for STEM
IB very writing heavy

I completed an IB program at a local high school (and also did chorus, incidentally). I'd love for my kids to do it too. The emphasis on epistemology and close text analysis seems even more important now with AI everywhere. My kids are still young, so I don't know what the specific tradeoffs are for AP courses now, but I don't think IB held me back from any STEM opportunities (e.g., I took AP Calc BC as a junior).

According to my student at W-L, the hardest, highest level STEM classes are AP, and the hardest, highest level humanities are IB.

When I looked into this a few years ago, it was my understanding that
1) some college might prefer one or the other for granting credit, but there wasn’t a clear winner among US colleges. Both are considered rigorous courses.
2) if the student intends to go to college abroad, IB is better.
3) IB is more of a set course of study re: what you must take, whereas AP is more a la carte/take the classes that interest you most. It’s also difficult (but not impossible) to do full IB + band/chorus/orchestra.

We went with AP in the end.

I was reading another post that asked for feedback on FCCPS. While looking at the responses, I saw a number that noted a preference for AP over IB. I would love feedback on the pros and cons for each path? (We will soon be faced with this decision for my oldest!).