Advanced Placement vs. International Baccalaureate

Which Program is the Best for You?

When applying to competitive colleges and programs, it is important to demonstrate that you challenged yourself in high school academically. By participating in college-level coursework as a high school student, you can improve your critical thinking skills, time management, and understanding of the world. There are a plethora of programs available, but today’s blog post will be focusing on the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB).

The AP program is individual based upon a student’s needs or desires. Students can select AP courses of their choosing which only last one year. You can take five AP courses your junior year and one your senior year, vice versa, or any other combination of exams. Typically, the AP program doesn’t begin until sophomore year. Freshmen and even sophomores in high school can take pre-AP courses in order to prepare for the upcoming rigorous curriculum later in high school. The coursework is only reflective of one year of content (there are few exceptions such as the AP Government which is a one-semester course).

After a year of taking an AP course, students can take the respective AP exam which takes place typically in May. The exams range from varying lengths, often times over three hours with breaks in-between. Exams can come in the form of multiple choice, short response, and essay, but typically, it is a combination of these methods. You can register to take an AP exam even if you did not take the course in high school. For example, you can be in the IB Program and register for the AP tests and take them, as long as your IB tests do not conflict with the schedule. You are typically not required to take the AP exam if you took an AP class unless your teacher requires it.

The AP scores are on a scale from 1–5 with a 3 considered to be passing. Typically colleges accept credits for scores of a 4 and a 5 and occasionally a 3 as well. These scores will normally translate to testing out of an introductory level course in college.

IB was founded during a time when students were considered to be passive learners and merely memorized information. The program was founded to challenge these notions and to help students develop a global, analytical mindset.

The IB curriculum is more strict than the AP program. Whereas the AP Program covers content covered during one year of class, many IB exams cover two years of material. This is because the curriculum is split into Standard Level and Higher Level classes.

Standard Level (SL): Equivalent to an AP class. Typically only covers one year of content.

Higher Level (AP): More difficult than both SL and AP. Takes two years to complete an HL course.

While there are several different types of IB programs throughout the world, the article will focus on the Diploma Program. The Diploma Program is the most extreme of the IB programs offered, requiring high school students to essentially take all of their junior and senior year level courses as IB subjects. You select 6 subjects of which you will focus on and study for the next 2 years. Typically, this consists of 3 SL courses and 3 HL courses (although you can take 4 HL and 2 SL courses if you want).

Unlike the AP program, your IB score isn’t contingent upon one test. Instead, you have other examinations called, “International Assessments.” These are essentially papers or projects you work on in class that will eventually be submitted to the IB program to be included as part of your final grade. IA’s include lab experiments for the sciences, exploring a math concept in a paper for mathematics, oral exams for languages and English, presentations, and many other methods of assessment. Essentially, your class teacher will grade these assignments for your entire class and send these scores to the IB graders. The graders will then select a couple of students’ work and determine if the teacher’s assessment was accurate. If they believe that the teacher’s grades were too lenient, then IB will moderate the scores and lower them for the entire class. The opposite would happen if they believed that the teacher graded their students too harshly. These internal controls are set in place so that the grading is as fair as possible.

In addition to the six subjects, there are other requirements to complete the IB Diploma Program. One requirement is called CAS, which stands for creativity, action, and service. While the CAS requirement has changed recently, in the past, students would have to complete 150 hours of activities split evenly between these three disciplines and write reflections on how improving these aspects of their life increases their welfare.

In addition, there is another class called Theory of Knowledge (ToK). This class is taken for one year and it is essentially a philosophy-based course which looks at analyzing the different disciplines such as the natural sciences, art, religion and metaphysics, etc. There is a culminating paper and presentation for this course as well.

Lastly, IB Diploma students complete an Extended Essay (EE) on one of their six subjects. They work with an advisor in their discipline to write a 4,000 word essay on a topic of their choice within their chosen subject.

In the IB program, you typically take the exam for your standard level class your Junior year, and for your HL classes, typically your Senior year. The exams are unlike AP in that most of them don’t even include a multiple-choice section. The IB exams are very heavy on writing and analysis, and they are often split between two days. They also don’t account for 100% of your score. In some IB classes, the sit-in exams only account for 20% of your IB Score. The remainder are determined by your IA scores and other teacher-specific evaluations.

The IB score is from a scale of 1–7. A 4 is considered to be passing. However, when it comes to credits, most colleges want to see at least a five, and they tend to only accept Higher Level courses, not Standard Level. IB is notorious for not being readily accepted for credit in the U.S. For international programs, many college decisions are contingent upon IB exam scores since they aren’t received until the culmination of high school.

As someone who has gone through AP classes, dual enrollment classes, and has completed the IB Diploma Program, I can say that all are challenging in their own ways and that all programs targeted for challenging high school students have its merits. To fully decide which program is best suitable for you, look into colleges you are interested in and see if they would accept credits from the program you are considering!

— Elizabeth Prater, Marketing Intern

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