<p>I’ve often heard that HL IB classes are roughly equivalent to an intro course at college (which I guess is why one can get college credit for IB classes). I’m curious about how true this is - those of you who did the IB, how similar or different have you found your college classes to be? I’m especially interested in the IB/small, liberal arts college differences. </p>
<p>Also, I’m wondering about whether or not to take an intro course at college that I perhaps could get credit for from my IB score. It is the subject I’m planning on majoring in (psychology), so I want to make sure I have a good, solid base, but at the same time I don’t want to simply repeat what I did in IB psych…</p>
<p>So I don’t go to a small liberal arts college, but I’ll still tell you what in my experience the difference has been…</p>
<p>IB classes are harder than college classes in terms of workload. Unfortunately, the work load makes you try whereas in college you get lazy, snobby and end up procrastinating even more than you did during IB (but still easily get an A). I’ve found that IB is more thorough and intense than many of my (first year) college classes have been. Plus, the fact IB tries to tie together all subjects definitely adds more depth to the those classes rather than college courses.</p>
<p>DON’T TAKE AN INTRO COURSE IF YOU ALREADY HAVE IB CREDIT FOR IT! Not only because you’ll get bored, but you’re wasting money! You paid money for the test and then you’ll pay for the course/waste credit on it. You’ll be fine without taking an intro psych class anyway…</p>
<p>I just graduated from the IB program and many of my friends who attend schools such as University of Florida and Florida State say that IB is much more intense than college classes. I think their opinions are pretty valid, they all assure me that its easier. They said its not too easy to where u can miss classes or never study, but if ur a true IB student then you’ll survive. Also they said it gives you an edge in college especially after taking classes like Theory of Knowledge.</p>
<p>I guess it depends a lot on your college, too. I didn’t do the IB, but the IB curriculum is almost identical to the high school curriculum in Germany. Maybe IB classes are more intense than my high school classes were, but I never had to read 500 pages or write 5-10 pages on a weekly basis in high school. My (small liberal arts) college has a reputation for being very intense academically though, so the typical college student might have a different experience.</p>
<p>I took normal psychology in HS and intro to psychology was so boring. I imagine that you went more in depth in an IB class, so you would probably be bored out of your mind in it.</p>
<p>All of my fellow IB graduate friends who go to top schools say IB was definitely harder, at least for the first semesters. While all former AP students were not used to a large amount of coursework, they were able to complete it with breeze as they were already used to the stress and knew how to manage everything. However, especially in their last 2 years (the “core” years for your major), the classes got a bit harder so they had to put in the extra effort to continue to succeed.</p>
<p>i took a good many IB and AP classes in HS, which really helped me out this past year. especially with time management! if u can survive IB, you’ll be fine ure first year academic wise for most intro classes. and i’m also a psych major and came in with credit and i skipped the ntro class, it just wasn’t worth taking it (again basically).</p>
<p>IB was so writing intensive that I was able to churn out quality papers right before they were due from the beginning of college… I enjoyed watching the kids who took 7+ AP classes worried about their 5 page (or longer) papers.</p>