<p>Not even sure if this was asked, but throw in a couple cents wherever I can. </p>
<p>As a AP and IB student at my school, my insight is thus:</p>
<p>Overall, IB is much more rigorous at my school, though it is very concievable and not unheard-of for IB to be an blow-off program. This is my senior year and my schedule is still hectic. Come May, I will be taking a total of 12 tests (not including Paper 1, Paper 2s, but including both AP and IB tests). If you want a free senior year, I would suggest against IB. But if you want a free senior year, then you probably shouldn’t be on the Harvard board either. (I concede it is another point entirely to end up taking a lax senior year against your will … i.e. senioritis)</p>
<p>The Science curriculum often is much more broad but lacks occasionally in depth (e.g. the IB Higher Level physics covers everything unlike Physics C which ignores Thermo, fluid, optics, but Higher Level does not require calculus). On the other hand, the humanities can be rather specific (e.g. studying only single-party states in the Americas or just British Romantic literature). </p>
<p>On tests: The IB tests tend to be easier than AP tests. However, it is graded much more stringently. On AP tests, you can probably pull a 60% on the test and still achieve a 5. On IB tests, you pull a 60% and who knows what you’d get? It would definitely be at a 5 or below (on a seven point scale). As a result, although I have probably done better on IB tests, my scores have been lower (different demographic taking the exam, so the curve is different). Also, IB tests are almost entirely free response. Some tests can last almost eight hours all told.</p>
<p>IB includes a lot more than just the test; some have been listed - the Extended Essay, the ToK essay, CAS hours, internal assessments, external assessments, orals and labs. </p>
<p>Does IB help? Cheesy, but I can say: I am definitely a better student for it. Does it hurt your GPA? In the past at our school, IB students have swept the top few ranks (1-4ish). This year, however, the top few are only AP students. So really, you can’t extrapolate anything from that. Early Action: no IB student made it to a top college (HYPMS). A couple of AP-ers (valedictorian and salutatorian) made it to Princeton and Stanford.</p>
<p>So does Harvard like IB? Sometimes I really question whether or not Harvard knows what it likes, so beats the heck out of me.</p>