the main reason I want to drop IB and go to an AP extensive schedule senior year is because I don’t want to take IB Math STUDIES SL. I am currently in grade level math (algebra 2) as a junior, and want to have honors pre calc (with an intro to calc AB in it) and potentially AP stats under my high school math resume. I am aware that Math studies SL, despite the IB name, is almost viewed as a joke. My only question is, will colleges view me dropping the diploma for certificate as negative, a drop it commitment, etc.? What would you pick?
I don’t think it is a problem if you replace it with similar rigor that interests you more. The IB diploma is pretty rigid and if the classes your school offers mean that you can’t take classes that appeal to you (i.e., maybe your school as AP Econ but not IB Econ), deciding to commit to classes that interest you is probably seen as a positive. I don’t think most colleges view either pre-calc or IB math studies sl as particularly rigorous, so it’s really more of an issue of what you do with the rest of your schedule. If this is the only thing about the diploma you don’t like, you might consider taking a class this summer. (Just an option.)