To IB or not to IB ... That is the question

Von_Neumann
Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:02:07 +0000

I am a full-IB diploma student. I am taking 4 HL and 2 SL classes. Both of my SL level classes are taught in HL in my school, so it is the most rigorous IB program that can be possible. (Chemistry-Physics-Biology-Mathematics-English A2-Turkish A1) I write approximately 2 lab. reports every week, each averaging 1500-2000 words. I am also doing Turkish diploma, which has its own requirements. I am pretty active in terms of ec’s, though. If you have perfect time management, you can finish everything and still have 7 hours of sleep (Most of my friends in IB sleep about 5). AP is a joke in terms of amount of work that it requires. I only needed 10 days of IB-level study-time for 7 AP exams last year (all self-study). However, AP is really different from IB in that IB makes you think and AP makes you memorize stuff. At least, that is the way that the exam is, and that is the way that my school teaches it. By the way, my school is a private school, which is really experienced in IB diploma programme. Maybe it is why I think that IB is much better preparation for college than AP.