Depends on what you’re aiming for, trying to do both AP and IB is a risk.

Posted elsewhere kids take a lot of AP classes in recent years:
https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/doc/number-of-ap-exams-per-student-2022.doc

For students looking at selective universities you need over 14 AP to be in the too 10000 students nationally.

If you’re running in that AP race, IB puts you at a disadvantage, because of doubling if the classes, and if you plan to take an AP exam for an IB class, there’s quite a bit of self study involved.

Based on this I predict that the strongest IB students will be less competitive for top 10. If you want to at least have a shot at it, I’d seriously reconsider the IB + AP route.

OP here. Thank you everyone for the thoughtful and serious responses. They are so very useful and deep, and I appreciate how high quality and high care all the posts are. I was a bit worried that this thread will turn into a religious fight of IB vs. AP and I am very grateful to you for not doing that and being kind and generous.

Believe it or not - you will love it - the person telling us that RMIB kids don’t take AP exam is a college advisor. Buyer beware.

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Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Some of these kids are super high achieving, and they value both. I tried to talk DC out of taking that many AP exams, but they insisted. They got 5s on all except the FL because they said they couldn't hear the audio, but they got a 7 on the IB FL exam.

These are just super high achieving kids, and contrary to what some think, it's not the parents pushing all these kids. They are just driven.

Agreed! These kids are self-driven and very smart. I have a junior who will take 10 APs (2 in 9th, 2 in 10th, 4 in 11th, and 2 in 12th) along with the 6 IB exams.

I would say 7-10 APs is typical in RMIB. In general, RMIB students take as many APs as top students in other HS even though they take IB courses, not specifically designed for AP exams. The same holds for Blair magnet kids. Blair courses are not designed for AP exams but they know the subjects well after taking classes so can take the corresponding AP exams with minimal efforts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Yeah, but that’s the way some kids are. I’m trying to talk mine out of taking some this year but she’s already looking at college courses and she wants to be able to jump to the more advanced classes. L her college will give more credit for some AP tests than some IB tests even though the IB tests are a lot harder.

You just need to plan well in 9th to 10th grades. If you want the college credit and course placement, take the APs and ace them. I think a kid doing IB plus 13 APs is poorly advised by parents or school counselor. It’s good to be ambitious, but in this case if IB is most rigorous, why the need to take the 13 APs. Seems like it’s only for college credit. From what I’ve seen doing the 13 APs alone, would almost certainly be considered the most rigorous.

I hear what you’re saying in theory. Mine just really wanted to do the IB program (over my contrary advice) and so she did it. I don’t think she’ll end up with 13 APs in addition to the IB exams but she’ll have something between 7 and 10. You can’t really plan for the total in 9-10 grade both because you won’t necessarily know how your interests will develop and because you won’t know which college they are going to and how they handle credits. For instance mine is looking at specific courses in her college and the AP foreign language lit class would allow her to skip a particular level of class and go into the advanced film classes, for instance, so even though she isn’t taking that AP class, she may take a shot at the exam so she can go straight to the top level language classes. The HL IB test really should be treated the same since it’s a similar level class, but her college treats it as equivalent to just the language AP, not the language plus lit. It’s all very course and college dependent and for a lot of these kids, the idea of cramming for another test and spending 4 hours taking it seems like a reasonable trade off for taking the higher level course in college.

TLDR—it’s not about college admissions, there are lots of other reasons to take these classes and tests.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 11:33 from yesterday. IB classes are different from AP classes, and there's value in both approaches. You can believe it or not, as you like, but doing both types of exams is what my DD wanted to do. I didn't coerce her to go to RMIB, and I didn't coerce her to do both APs and IBs. My DD and her peers are driven -- self-confessed nerds.

Her younger sibling got into RMIB but decided not to go -- his decision, not mine.

There's so much criticism on these boards of parents helicoptering their kids and scolding that the kids should choose their own paths, and then when people report that their own kids have chosen a hard path of their own volition, there's scoffing and disbelief. You can't win.

+1 well stated.

My kid is doing a double major, and trying to graduate in 3 years (thanks to all those AP/IB credits). I told them not to push themselves, and that an extra year could be beneficial and to enjoy college, but they are determined.

My other kid did not want to do IBDP, and that's ok. I have never pushed this DC to do it, but they are taking a few IB classes, as well as AP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Some of these kids are super high achieving, and they value both. I tried to talk DC out of taking that many AP exams, but they insisted. They got 5s on all except the FL because they said they couldn't hear the audio, but they got a 7 on the IB FL exam.

These are just super high achieving kids, and contrary to what some think, it's not the parents pushing all these kids. They are just driven.

Yeah right, you tried to talk DC out of it! In typical DCUM fashion every thread turns into a brag fest.

Yes, I did try to talk DC out of it. I have even told DC that *gasp* a B is not the end of the world if they end up with a B, but DC wasn't having it. They were determined to get straight As, and they achieved that. Those kids are very high achieving and some push themselves.

This is anonymous forum. Who exactly am I bragging to? The internet?

I'm 11:33 from yesterday. IB classes are different from AP classes, and there's value in both approaches. You can believe it or not, as you like, but doing both types of exams is what my DD wanted to do. I didn't coerce her to go to RMIB, and I didn't coerce her to do both APs and IBs. My DD and her peers are driven -- self-confessed nerds.

Her younger sibling got into RMIB but decided not to go -- his decision, not mine.

There's so much criticism on these boards of parents helicoptering their kids and scolding that the kids should choose their own paths, and then when people report that their own kids have chosen a hard path of their own volition, there's scoffing and disbelief. You can't win.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from RMIB in 2023. She did tons of AP exams as well as IB exams.

I know she took AP Gov and APUSH. I think the AP World History curriculum is not well aligned with the IB history classes she took, so no AP World History. She also took AP Physics 1, AP Stats, AP Calc AB and BC, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP English Lang, AP Psych, AP French. So that's 12 total.

As far as years -- AP Gov in 9th; APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Physics 1 in 10th; AP French, AP Calc AB, and AP English Lang in 11th; and the rest in 12th.

As far as whether it was a good/bad idea -- I won't lie -- exam season senior year was freaking brutal, between 4 IB exams and 5 AP exams. Overall she did pretty well but not straight 5s on the exams for sure -- a range of 3s, 4s, and 5s. The first two years of her HS were during the pandemic so that didn't help. She wasn't shooting for Ivy League schools but for an OOS state school, and got plenty of merit, so that worked out.

Colleges do tend to recognize and give credit for AP scores more so than for IB scores -- no idea why.

If she took so many AP’s, I’m honestly not seeing the point of even doing the IB. Any of those self studied, or she took the AP exam for every IB class she took? If you want to show the class rigor through AP exams it makes more sense to take the AP classes that are preparing you for them.

dp.. the IB curriculum is about depth, not breadth, and involves a ton of writing and critical analysis. It's not really about credit for college, though some colleges will take some of the IB scores above a 6, rarely a 5.

If you are only interested in college credit, don't bother with IB. But, colleges do recognize that the IBDP is challenging, and that such a student has taken the most rigorous courses available.

If you value the IB that much then choose the program and stick to it. Doing 12-13 APs is hard, kids that get good scores with them are usually competitive to most selective universities. It just looks like killing yourself for nothing.

Some of these kids are super high achieving, and they value both. I tried to talk DC out of taking that many AP exams, but they insisted. They got 5s on all except the FL because they said they couldn't hear the audio, but they got a 7 on the IB FL exam.

These are just super high achieving kids, and contrary to what some think, it's not the parents pushing all these kids. They are just driven.

Yeah right, you tried to talk DC out of it! In typical DCUM fashion every thread turns into a brag fest.