International Baccalaureate Programme – What do you think of it?
I am a university teacher, and I have also taught both AP and IB high school classes (math, including higher level IB and BC calculus), and am continuing to teach both. I also teach junior high school (one honors class in eighth grade as a volunteer for the public school district). I think all that can be reasonably done is to fairly list the pros and cons of the IB program against the AP program. Personally, I don’t think a reasonable argument can be made that one is “better” than the other, at least not universally. Pros of IB over AP: Unlike the AP program, the IB program offers a separate high school diploma, which in itself has meaning to most good universities. In addition to completing 6 IB level courses and exams in high school, the IB diploma means that a student has written an extended essay, performed a reasonable amount of community service, participated in the arts, and been involved in some kind of athletics in their last two years of high school. Many good universities (
