Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

is AP offered? if not, the lack of AP is grounds to transfer to another school. This is how kids zoned for MVHS end up at Hayfield and WestPo

Yes, I believe there are also AP classes but not sure as to how many. We are zoned for Robinson SS.

Lake Braddock (AP) gets a ton of student transfers from Robinson, but part of that is because Lake Braddock has the AAP program for middle school kids and some want to continue on with their MS classmates.

Also, Robinson has more AP classes than most IB high schools in FCPS because it's so big, but it still has fewer AP courses than the AP schools that don't have IB.

That's good to know. Do you know if you can do both AP and IB? Not sure if that's even recommended but I wasn't sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

is AP offered? if not, the lack of AP is grounds to transfer to another school. This is how kids zoned for MVHS end up at Hayfield and WestPo

Yes, I believe there are also AP classes but not sure as to how many. We are zoned for Robinson SS.

Lake Braddock (AP) gets a ton of student transfers from Robinson, but part of that is because Lake Braddock has the AAP program for middle school kids and some want to continue on with their MS classmates.

Also, Robinson has more AP classes than most IB high schools in FCPS because it's so big, but it still has fewer AP courses than the AP schools that don't have IB.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

is AP offered? if not, the lack of AP is grounds to transfer to another school. This is how kids zoned for MVHS end up at Hayfield and WestPo

Yes, I believe there are also AP classes but not sure as to how many. We are zoned for Robinson SS.

Lake Braddock (AP) gets a ton of student transfers from Robinson, but part of that is because Lake Braddock has the AAP program for middle school kids and some want to continue on with their MS classmates.

I’m a parent, but IB in high school put me far ahead of my peers in a highly rated state university. Strong writing skills, but there’s a fair amount of philosophical/European style post-modern philosophical analysis (English class and atheory of knowledge) which annoyed me. I came in with 24 college credits. Can’t speak to AP as I didn’t have that option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

is AP offered? if not, the lack of AP is grounds to transfer to another school. This is how kids zoned for MVHS end up at Hayfield and WestPo

Yes, I believe there are also AP classes but not sure as to how many. We are zoned for Robinson SS.

Anonymous wrote:Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

is AP offered? if not, the lack of AP is grounds to transfer to another school. This is how kids zoned for MVHS end up at Hayfield and WestPo

Very interested. IB is offered at our local HS but it doesn't seem appealing so we are looking at private schools. However, would love to hear if the IB was positive because we'd love to avoid the expense of private.

Speaking for our family's experience with both AP and IB schools, I would not send a kid to an IB high school unless I knew DC would complete the full IB diploma program. In that case, it's a good option.

And our AP kid had no problem writing papers in both college and grad school.

Neither one is better overall, but depending on what your child’s interests are, one will be a better fit for your individual child.

Anonymous wrote:I know that the IB requires more writing assignments...longer ones requiring research , organization, critical thinking. Difficult but very valuable IMO. Really no way to learn to effectively communicate in writing then to practice, practice, practice.

Mine is heading off to college next year and is hearing back from older IB friends that they feel well prepared for college level work

The amount and quality of writing assignments depends far more on the specific school's and teacher's philosophy than whether they are teaching AP or IB.

I know that the IB requires more writing assignments...longer ones requiring research , organization, critical thinking. Difficult but very valuable IMO. Really no way to learn to effectively communicate in writing then to practice, practice, practice.

Mine is heading off to college next year and is hearing back from older IB friends that they feel well prepared for college level work

these threads usually turn into a pissing match

I don’t know about your IB and I can’t say anything about college admissions, but as a broad generalization I would say IB (esp full IB with the extended essay) tends to emphasize analytic skills and writing while AP leans a little more towards subject matter coverage.

We’ve been happy with the full IB although I know some kids prefer IB for English and AP for sciences.

the presence of IB rather than AP at struggling schools gives students who don't want to attend that school an excuse to transfer- I think that's the source of its 'bad press'

I know this has been discussed on DCUM, but I'm looking for current opinions on whether IB or AP is better.

I've heard it said many times that if IB was so great, it would be offered at McLean, Langley, Madison, etc. as it's only offered in the schools that have historically struggled. However, I also hear amazing things from parents who highly recommend IB.

Any thoughts on this? Is one better than the other regarding college admissions?

Thank you.