Should I take IB or will it be a terrible decision?

[Benow13]

Okay so, I really need help deciding what to do! Option 1: Take IB, drop my sport until senior year, scholarship to university, early med school, and honors college. Option 2: Stick with all AP and take the few dual credit courses they offer.

I do procrastinate and I'm not always organized. But if IB is as good as they say, I would prepare for it.

I honestly can't decide. I've heard that IB is basically the same as AP. And then I hear AP prepares you more for college. IB just looks good on your transcript.

I really like the classes you can take with IB, but I'm thinking of becoming a cheerleader for next school year.

Is it possible to do both?

What do you all think I should do?

P.S. my school is SO academically competitive.

Thanks

[Emmi]

You can usually take both IB and AP classes at the same time.

I think both AP and IB prepare you for college, it's just with AP it's subject-specific whereas IB is a full program. Like if I wanted to take all AP science classes to be an engineer but stay at just basic English/history classes, I could. But I could also take IB and have a challenging curriculum in all subjects. You should try IB, see how it works for you, and if it doesn't just take a few AP's. My school's somewhat competitive too as well.

On a related note, I have both a job and practice martial arts while taking IB, and I still get six-seven hours of sleep a night. Many others in IB will play a sport, be in drama club, etc. It's possible.

[Proletariat]

AP prepares you for American post-secondary institutions, most of the time. IB gets you worldwide recognition.

The way the curriculum is taught is also different for the two streams. As a student whose school has both IB and AP, I can say that IB is a more well-rounded program that emphasizes analysis, critical-thinking, and depth into a subject. AP on the other hand is more structured, requires more memorization, and packs more content into their curriculums (that's why AP "prepares" you for Uni, because some of a first-year uni course in a subject would have been covered in the AP curriculum.) IB places more focus on projects and essays, while AP has more smaller assignments. If you want to know the differences in specific subjects, I'd be more than glad to help you out.

Both streams are more intensive than regular classes, as they should be. AP seems to have more day-to-day work, while IB has the big projects that one has to juggle.

[vermeer583]

Alright, it's late at night/early morning, and to be honest I regret taking IB, so I'll try to give you an objective opinion based on what my experience has been. Wish I knew about this site two years ago, haha.

I do procrastinated and I'm not always organized. But if IB is as good ad they say, I would prepare for it.

First of all, if you are basically saying you will adapt and accommodate the workload, I'd really think about this seriously. You might be able to handle it, though the students from my school that have been successful in the program tend to be extremely organised and on top of things. I was in your situation as a somewhat disorganized procrastinator, and things haven't gone over well for me. It is easy to fall behind and let things snowball until it's impossible to deal with them. Right now, I have three design labs, my extended essay, and a tok paper, all of which are overdue. My sleeping habits have suffered. So think about it. If you are ambitious and decide to take it seriously and stay organised, by all means go for it. Just don't fall into the trap of setting lofty expectations of your future self, as I did, or you'll end up struggling.

Also, make sure you take classes you are interested in and enjoy. I was unsure of what I wanted when I signed up, and ended up taking chemistry and physics because it looked like it would get me better recognition and maybe a good scholarship. While this may depend from school to school and teacher to teacher, I've become quite disinterested in the subjects I'm taking and this hasn't been helpful.

I really like the classes you can take with IB, but I'm thinking of becoming a cheerleader for next school year.

Is it possible to do both?

Yes, for the most part it is possible to have a job or play a sport at the same time, though just keep in mind you'll need to be organised, as always. Does your school offer certificate classes? If so, you should consider taking certificates if you are interested in particular classes. It's not the "full ib" experience but you won't have to deal with stuff like the EE or CAS or TOK, you'll just take the course(s) that you want. So check with your school about that.

The only thing I can say for sure is if you do take Ib, and stay with it, it WILL change you, regardless of whether you succeed. And keep in mind that there is life beyond what your grades are. Best of luck!

[Julie]

I do procrastinated and I'm not always organized. But if IB is as good ad they say, I would prepare for it.

Ok, if you plan on going into IB next year, you need to get organized this year. Prove to yourself that you can actually stop procrastinating and get yourself organized. If you can't, IB would be a bad idea. You must stay organized and focused for a two year period

I honestly can't decide. I've heard that IB is basically the same is AP. And then I hear AP prepares you more for college. IB just looks good on your transcript.

IB is not the same as AP!!! For IB you have to have 6 subjects for the Diploma. With AP you could just take one class at that level. Also, IB is, from what I've heard from my friend who took both, more difficult than AP. For IB you can actually get more college credit than with AP (this is for the USA I am talking about)

I really like the classes you can take with IB, but I'm thinking of becoming a cheerleader for next school year.

Is it possible to do both?

You could do both IF you stop procrastinating and get yourself organized. Cheer-leading could possibly count as your A hours for CAS.

Overall, IB can never really be a terrible decision. It can only benefit you unless you yourself mess it up. You need to give 100% of yourself this year to stop procrastinating and getting organized so you can determine if you want to take IB or not.

[∫ Jorge δx]

I should tell you that the top IBer in my school currently takes 4 HLs, gets into every single sports team as well as drama and even has time to go out. And she's messy as hell too! (Then again, I'm messy and disorganized too) But that's in my eyes, everyone has their own way to put things in order (So find yours out!).

So, it's possible to do all you want while in IB. Just do work when assigned, follow the deadlines and you'll be good.

[IBraped]

look at this sites name! Does that not give you a hit as to the difficulty of IB.

I would love to be able to take another syllabus but im stuck..

Only 4 months left