IB vs AP | My experiences with International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement

Whether you're deciding between the programs or just wondering how the "other" students live, find out in this video! I share my experiences with the AP and IB program, how AP and IB are similar and still very distinct. I discuss testing, workload, curriculum, and classes. Remember, no program is better than the other, just different for different students :)

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Hi my name is Lilia. On Ivy Lilia, I post weekly and enjoy sharing about my experiences with college applications / admissions, the Ivy League, the International Baccalaureate programme, Cornell University / The Hotel School, and more!

[charlotteharrington]

i’m a senior in IB right now, and this is so true. the depth and personalization of IB has really helped me grow as a student

[nikkilaude]

I’m a junior who just transferred from an AP to an IB school. This video made me feel really happy about my decision :)

[kandaka]

I'm a sophomore trying to figure out my path and this in-depth analysis of both ap and ib really helped me out and cleared things up. Thank you!!

[vivislife]

i feel bad because my parents are giving me the privilege of going to a private school and doing IB opposed to AP but IB is just hard for me and im drained :(

[MadChristoph]

AP is better for me. In my middle school, I was in the IB Middle Years Programme (I had to be), and I hated it. We all felt like we were taking the same classes and forced to do the same project.

[mishagh]

The IB program sounds amazing, but the whole system sounds really confusing and scary

[aikoabodominguez]

Hi I’m Aiko Maya’s sister! Hehe my mom showed me one of your videos and I saw this and it will be helpful later in high school thanksss

[Yumi_]

I'm looking at IB vs AP because I have to take one or the other (parents) and this really helps. Everyone always talks about AP classes and taking this class or that class and I've never been able to relate to that.

[mothernature]

Your videos are creative ! I did the American High school and i am doing Swedish high school. I am forced to take all the scientific 25 subjects + I am obligated to take history, religion, civics and I have 4 elective courses . I like American Highschool and grading system

[frozenturtl]

I’d like to debate a little bit on that IB “engaging work” and the lifestyle. Often students at my high school would be confused and go for help to teachers or fellow students, but whenever I worked with them on their understanding it seemed like IB was simply using confusing language. For example, in the AA Hl textbook people got very confused on binomial expansion, a fairly easy topic, because the teacher hadn’t taught it well and the IB textbook failed to as well. I find this commonly, at least in my high school’s curricula, amongst several of the classes. The work that my friends are getting is often busy work, and though sometimes the teachers try to make it engaging like you said yours did, they fail and simply are just unintelligible. This could be an issue with the teachers, but I think it highlights one of the issues with IB. Often, if you have a hard time working without your teachers you will suffer in IB. Many of the students in my schools IB program are very reliant on teachers for direction, how to research, how to learn, etc. Using my example from earlier, I learned the binomial expansion through some papers online and even a couple of YouTube problems, using practice problems to make sure I was on the right path. I suppose this can be one of the benefits of IB, but it really seems to me that IB doesn’t really inspire students to get out and figure out how to live life on their own. IB does very well in teaching people, but I’d argue that it’s far more set in stone than courses like AP. The reason I say this is that in AP, it somewhat encourages you to research on your own through self studying. I’m self studying eight AP classes right now, and I’m planning on a five for each. After that, I plan on going further into those topics by taking online opencourseware classes on high physics, chemistry and math. What I’m saying with that is that I have to research and figure out how to learn on my own through self studying. IB somewhat discourages this because it throws so many standardised essay and homework’s at you that you have an issue just completing those, let alone learning on your own. Of course, this view is very specific To my high school experience, but I just think that IB forcing a lifestyle on students isn’t particularly the best thing for everyone. Some students will like it, some will hate it, the only way to find out is to try both and see. I guess I just hate these AP vs IB videos because in my view it’s like apples and oranges, they’re both good so just pick one and go with it.

[Bella-hhvr]

I just got accepted into the AP program at the high school in my school board that offers it. I like to think and be challenged I usually am really bored during my classes as I already understand everything and the teachers just keep on talking about it. I am happy that AP will provide me with the challenge and rather than what I experience now just lots of work with no thinking involved I will get to think and actually have to work hard! I am so happy 😁

[hsa-ubsq]

I am starting IB next year and your videos have really helped me understand how the program works. If your could please keep making more IB related videos like tips or benefits, that would be really great. Thanks so much

[hpillai]

Excellent video explaining the subtle difference between IB and AP. At the end of the day, it depends on each student which route is best for her/him

[bclubofawesomeness]

For anyone watching this video currently: My school allows me to pick and choose which IB classes you desire, and yours could as well. There’s also the IB Career Related Program, where you take two IB classes and a class related to the career you want. So don’t feel forced into taking any IB classes you don’t want to — I’m definitely not gonna take IB History in this lifetime!

[iris]

i am but a very confused eighth grader trying to figure all of this out 😔 You really helped, thank you so much!

[redbrixanimations]

Imma be a freshman next year and there’s a high school with only ib and one with only AP. I chose the one with IB!

[srouiller]

Hi, I had an IB diploma from a Spanish Brit school in 1999 and yes, education is getting worse even in the best places, AP... maybe after ur 30's.
Ivy your way of telling the difference is OK, u are polite and eager to learn & u had both ug, in a good way but u are young, and practical is good but more, general, worldly & deep is better.

Yes @Ivy, we ABSOLUTELY need professors who have absolute freedom! no bias to teach (left or right) their job IS to give the STUDENTS the tools they need to THINK BY THEMSELVES and yes YES the YOUTH need to understand what happened in WWI and WWII because the consequences of those atrocities are here in 2024 and no country neither learn anything from (they pretend they don't) well they GET that weapons are an excellent asset like drugs. China, US, India but why your people is so poor...

When I saw Ivy League students but 🌈students supporting a terrorist, rainbow-killer, mass murder group I realized THEY MADE IT, the left isn't left anymore, the ignorance of the students of those *once prestigious unis was like 1984 Orwell's book became the reality, well big brother is around 20 years and I remember the 1st edition the guys being so nice *in Spain but I guess ppl wanna see the human misery, a big hug, this is from 2018 i hope u read

[meetthemoonlight]

My school has both AP and IB, and I need to decide which program I'm doing next year by this spring. My counselors haven't explained IB to us at all, so your videos are really helpful, thanks!

[fortusvictus]

My sons are fortunate to attend a district with both IB and AP capstone programs. And I can say they both have advantages that appeal to different types of learners. As an educator, I do have concerns however with the IB program end results, which were alluded to in the video. One thing I noticed observing seniors in the IB program is it really favored those with a 'gift of gab', or in other words students who developed strategies for talking/writing around issues or 'winging it' long enough to get credit when, in reality, they did not have a strong grasp of the content knowledge at all. AP does have an essay component, but the two are not comparable as with AP they are looking for very specific points on a rubric whereas IB appears to reward eloquence and verbal dexterity more than content knowledge.

[Ciju]

Graduated from IB school back in 2010.

Pro tip: Taking IB kind of means that you don't really need to do much in terms of work in the first year, as only the final exams determine your IB score /7

Once I found that out... Oh, haha I was the worst "smart kid" imaginable. So many calls to my parents, but I did end up doing pretty well. Like you said, A LOT of if was justifying my position, and I often played the devils advocate.

I LOVED how we had business class, and critical thinking/philosophy. Got to read a lot of good literature, and cheated on a lot of crappy literature; overall a good time.