I'm a rising junior in the IB program. My school doesn't offer AP classes, but I'm planning on taking AP exams for a few of the IB classes that I will be taking this upcoming year. I'll be taking IB Biology HL 1 and IB English HL 1. Would it be feasible for me to take these IB courses and then take their respective AP exams with minimal preparation? For example, could I take the AP English Lit test after taking the IB English HL course and the APES or AP Biology test after taking the IB Biology HL course? So basically what I'm asking is: how similar are IB classes to the AP exams? Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated!
I'm not really sure how the IB program works, but yes. You can take the AP test, you should talk to your counselor about test dates and all that good stuff.
I'll be taking IB Biology HL 1 and IB English HL 1.
Are there IB Biology HL 2 and IB English HL 2? Some schools split up the Bio HL curriculum into two years.
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Originally Posted by closertothestarts
For example, could I take the AP English Lit test after taking the IB English HL course and the APES or AP Biology test after taking the IB Biology HL course?
IB English HL doesn't focus on multiple-choice questions because there are no M/C questions on the English HL exam. I would at least pick up an AP Lit book before committing to taking the AP Lit exam.
If you complete a full IB Bio HL course, then you will be well-prepared to ace the AP Bio exam. AP Bio is peanuts compared to Bio HL.
@FantasyVesperia: I know that I logistically can take the AP tests; all I'd have to do is go to a different school. I'm asking how similar are the IB courses for those subjects compared to the AP courses.
@IceQube: Yes, there is IB Biology HL 2 and IB English HL 2. However, it's pretty much impossible to take those until senior year, and I'd really like to take the AP tests my junior year (after just taking one year of Bio and English). I'll definitely still review Barron's for both tests, but do you think that Bio HL 1 covers mostly everything on the AP Bio test? (I can probably fill in the blanks with Barron's if needed)
do you think that Bio HL 1 covers mostly everything on the AP Bio test?
Depends on what your teachers cover in Bio HL 1. There is no standardized curriculum detailing what constitutes Bio HL "1" - schools can split up the IB Bio HL science course however they wish.
But whatever you do cover in IB Bio HL 1, you'll likely know really well for the AP exam.
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Originally Posted by closertothestars
I'll definitely still review Barron's for both tests
Everyone at my school takes AP Bio after taking IB Bio (two years). The AP isn't particularly hard for anyone at my school; IB Bio is just so much more demanding than the AP.
I recommend looking at this though, closertothestars, in addition to your AP Bio book. The 2013 AP Bio test will be dramatically different from previous tests. Check out the new outline; it's pretty detailed.
You should be fine if you buy a prep book as well. There are a lot of little details on AP tests that are usually discussed in an AP class prior to the exam
@IceQube: Wow, thank you! I will definitely look through that and look more into what is covered in Biology 1.
@rachelm57: I hope so. I'll definitely still look through Barron's before the test.
What about AP Environmental Science? Any thoughts on how similar IB Bio/AP Bio and AP Env Sci are? Are they completely different or is it fairly easy to learn the APES material once one has taken an AP Bio or IB Bio course?
If you cover ecology in IB Bio at the HL level, then you should be almost there for the APES exam. Just make sure to review legislation. And looking through a PR book for APES and the Crash Course book for APES wouldn't hurt either.
That's good to know! Would you recommend the Crash Course book for APES? I used that to self-study AP Gov and it was basically all I needed! If I buy the Crash Course for APES, should I also get the PR? Thank you for all of your help, IceQube!
Crash Course is very useful, especially in pinning down the legislation you need to know for the exam. I would get both CC and PR. Use PR to get a good overview of everything; use CC to review, and only memorize the legislation in CC.
One more thing. Ignore all the legislation that PR brings up. CC tells you exactly what legislation you need to know and delineates each nicely.
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