AP v.s. IB US Universities

[SolidKC]

For the person going to US universities, which do you think is better IB or AP?

And IB students in US universities, do you think IB actually helps a lot surviving in US universities more than AP?

[Emmi]

I wouldn't say AP is better than IB, but AP is more widely known in US universities, especially at smaller ones. Larger universities tend to know what it is and will give credit for it, but you might not have that much luck at a smaller university. However, you shouldn't have a problem getting credit for either.

Doing IB did not really give me any sort of edge over students who just took AP courses. In two weeks I'll be done with my first year in a university, and while some of my classes did cover things I learned in some of my IB courses and I was used to working hard already, I'm not more prepared than my classmates by a long shot. We're all struggling just the same

[Luka Petrovic]

Although I have heard mixed reviews. Some people saying IB gave them an edge, other not so much I think IB still is superior to AP (Keep in mind my experience is mostly with Canadian universities and some US colleges). I was actually just grilled by an AP student at a model UN conference about how IB was the lesser. Looking back to his arguments they were all very poor and this is how I would counter. His first argument was that AP stood for "Advanced Placement" and that IB was merely "International education." What this closed minded person didn't realize was that what we consider "advanced" is actually pretty normal. In Japan they go to school 6 days a week, and in some former Soviet republics they would have covered 13 years of education in 10. So to say "International education" is something inferior or at least average is utterly wrong. Then to go into the actual course material. I won't argue that with IB you are a fuller person, because you have to study a variety of academic streams, but I will tell you that AP is just straight up memorization. You can get an AP credit with just studying the textbook and writing the exam, which is multiple choice. That is just pure regurgitation with absolutely no original thought or analysis required. In IB how ever you have lab time, IA's, EE and more university like assignments. Of course you will come across multiple choice in university, but you are also expected to be able synthesize your own ideas, as you are supposed in the real world. So there is my view of the AP, it is for sure biased, but thats what I have to say!

Keep in mind the person above you also took engineering. In that case there are few opportunities to get ahead of class mates. However if your school requires depth and breadth courses and you dread languages. You can opt out of first year potentially, because of the recognition of IB courses as substitutes for first year.