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Home » Supplement » Education

Tough decision between AP, IB

By John Huart | September 28, 2011, Wednesday | Print Edition

EVERY year many parents in the United States, wishing to give their children a top-notch education and an advantage in the university admission process, are presented with a decision on whether to enroll their children in a program offering Advanced Placement (AP) courses or the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program.

Often, it becomes a choice between competing schools. However, an increasing number of schools in the US are offering both options. Still, it is a topic that continues to generate passionate discussion in the US each year. In fact, over the last several years, articles on this very topic have appeared in the Washington Post on a regular basis. What is clear from the debate is that both AP courses and the IB Diploma Program give students a clear advantage over their peers who do not enroll in such rigorous coursework. Not only do students pursuing AP courses and the IB Diploma have an advantage in the university admission process, they are better prepared to succeed in a university classroom as well.

In the US the dialogue seems to focus mainly on whether AP or IB has more rigorous academics and which offers better preparation for university level study. (The best of the best, if you will). However, outside the US the focus seems shifted along a different tack. While AP courses are widely seen by parents outside the US as acceptable for admission to American universities, there remains a common misconception that the IB Diploma is relatively unknown to admission officers at universities in the US. Parents often believe their children will have little chance of successfully matriculating to an American university if they have done the IB Diploma Program.

In truth, the IB Diploma Program is far from unknown in the US. According to the IB website, out of 2,308 secondary schools offering the IB Diploma Program worldwide, 753 are located in the US. This is, by far, the largest number of IB schools in any one country. The fact is many US universities understand both AP credit and the IB Diploma program very well.

At Dulwich College Shanghai this is borne out by the offers that IB students received last year from 24 top US universities. The IB website www.ibo.org lists more than 1,600 universities in the US that have a specific IB policy which they have communicated to the IB. Many American universities list advanced standing granted for both AP and IB courses on the same tables on their admission websites. This allows students (and their parents) to know in advance how much credit they can receive for specific grades, in specific courses, under either scheme.

What is apparent from all the discussion is that both AP and IB offer excellent academic rigor. They challenge students and give them solid preparation for tertiary level study. Students who are highly successful in either AP or IB coursework can be sure they will be given serious consideration for admission at top American universities.



John Huart is a university guidance counsellor at Dulwich College Shanghai. He was formerly associate director for International Admission at the University of Dayton (Dayton, Ohio, USA) where he had responsibility for all aspects of the international admission process, including making admission and scholarship decisions.

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