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Should i do IB or A Levels?

I am an international student that plans to do either courses next year after i complete my IGCSE's. I would like to know which of my options sound more rigorous. I should mention that i plan to attend university in either Denmark/US (first choices since im a citizen of both countries) or Canada. To be considered for admission to all US uni i'll need to take ACT or SAT and some also require 2-3 SAT II subjects tests.

Keep in mind: The sixth form at my school is really bad as grades haven't been the best plus my school lacks in terms of resources/facilities/technology. However, the IB school has been doing the diploma programme for 14 years and have good teachers and AMAZING resources/facilities. Their average is 34-35 points.

A Level Subjects (CIE Exam Board)
-Maths
-Economics
-Chemistry
-Computer Science/ICT

IB Subjects:
-HL Maths
-HL ITGS
-HL Economics
-SL English Language & Literature
-SL Ab initio Spanish/Arabic B (Would Arabic B be easier if i've been studying it for 5 years but am not the best at it?)
-SL Environmental Systems & societies

With my situation which course do you think would be better for me to do?

Thnks for your input, appreciate it :smile:

Reply 1

JosieH98

I'd say the IB; the school sounds really good and it's great if you're an international student as it's recognised globally. A-levels are fine too, but recognised less outside the UK and places like that, and it's probably not the best idea to do it somewhere with poor results. As long as you're an all-rounder and don't mind a bit of hard work, IB is probably your best bet. :smile:

Reply 2

username941859

DO Arabic B. I wish I'd been able to continue Arabic to IB, and you'll regret not doing it.

Reply 3

pbunny

Original post by Calllu-m

DO Arabic B. I wish I'd been able to continue Arabic to IB, and you'll regret not doing it.

Why do recommend arabic so much? My other option is sl french b (getting A/A* at IGCSE) but i'm definitely not keen on continueing on with it to IB. So i'd much rather take arabic (don't take it for IGCSE but take compulsory government classes) but i'm honestly quite intimidated by the difficulty of the language (shouldn't be so bad though since i live in an Arab country)

Reply 4

username941859

Original post by pbunny

Arabic is a great language (I'm doing a degree in it) and it's so much more employable than say French. Plus French IB is AWFUL.

Reply 5

queentamora

In the US, ESS is thought to be a soft subject and may affect your chances of getting in. It depends also what school you want to go to, 34-35, if that's what you're aiming for, will not get you into too many top universities in America because first of all, America does not consider the 3 bonus points from CAS/TOK/EE and is also biased towards the AP course.

I don't know what Arabic is like, but Spanish AB is by far the easiest subject I take. Then again, it is also considered a soft subject and you don't want two soft subjects, so if you're considering the US then drop either Spanish Ab or ESS. ITGS is not offered at my school but I have a friend who does it and he says it's easy so if you like computers, go for it.

I will say however that the IB is very very difficult. It's harder than taking 4 A levels to A2 and 38 points is supposedly equal to AAAAA at A level. You need to be seriously well rounded and quickly learn how to bull****. Good luck choosing!

Reply 6

mickles574

I would rather do A-Levels if I was in your place. I'm doing the IB but its really not worth considering that I plan to study either in the UK or US. Offers from UK universities are really easy for A-Level students as compared to those taking the IB. Whereas, the US doesn't really care much if you're doing the IB as you'd be doing SATs anyway and I don't think the IB would allow time to prepare for the SATs, especially that you'll be taking Maths HL. Moreover, you'll also have to do things like TOK, Extended Essay and CAS on top of the 6 subjects that you'll be taking and I don't believe its worth pressurizing yourself necessarily.

Having said that, if you do end up doing the IB, it would prepare you better for university as you'll be accustomed to writing long essays and submitting work in a formal manner (i.e. bibliographies and referencing). I think American Universities require you to study a bunch of other subjects as well, in which case the IB would be beneficial.

I would say it really depends on what you intend to do at university; if its something very specialized, I wouldn't recommend the IB cause you'd rather focus on the main subjects from the beginning (A-Levels would allow you to do that) but if you plan on doing something more generalized, you're probably better of doing the IB.

Hope I've helped.
Good Luck!

Reply 7

pbunny

Original post by mickles574

Thanks for the insight. I've already decided to the IB diploma for several of the reasons you've stated. But i've changed my subjects to:

HL Psychology
HL Biology
HL Chemistry
SL Maths
SL English L&L
SL Spanish Ab initio

I think i'll have enough time to prep for SAT's and other miscellaneous requirement since i plan on studying for the SAT this summer, so that should be out of the way soon enough. The thing that really made me want to do IB is because the IB school is so much better than my current school and plus i love the fact that it prepares you really well for university.

Reply 8

blubimnotafish

I'd go for the IB. First of all, you've got more subjects (which some may see as a disadvantage, but I think it broadens your knowledge and you get to spread your attention on more things). I've only done English as a HL IB subject, but my teachers were a lot more passionate than the teachers I had for my normal subjects (so non-IB subjects), and I think passion is a general requirement for IB teachers, as I found it was a lot more intense/in-depth than my normal subjects.

Also, IB just sounds more prestigious to me than A-Levels - don't know whether it's generally perceived that way, but that's how I see it :P

Reply 9

mickles574

You're welcome! Yeah i do agree with your reasons to do the IB especially since the school has been doing it for quite some time (with a great deal of success). I think the problem with my school was that they were only doing it for the second year and did not really know how to prepare the candidates for the exams. Anyway, I also think that you've made a good decision to take Math SL instead of HL, although I'm assuming the school would be good at HL since they've got good experience. I'm also for the decision to do Chemistry HL since the SL curriculum barely teaches the 'real' chemistry and I find chemistry interesting in general too, so I think you should enjoy it.

Well, good luck with your SAT preparations and I hope you do get them out of the way before the summer ends just so that its one thing less to be worried about. I would also advise you to get done with your extended essay before the start of the second year of IB (but that's a long way from now).

Feel free to hit me up if you need any advise and ill be happy to help!

Reply 10

desslop

Original post by pbunny

Yea? Well be prepared for A LOT of work... I did the IB and it was hell... I wish I had done the A-levels to be honest.

Reply 11

pbunny

Original post by desslop

Yea? Well be prepared for A LOT of work... I did the IB and it was hell... I wish I had done the A-levels to be honest.

Haha don't worry, i'm ready for the challenge :wink:

The cons of doing A levels at my current school outweigh the pros greatly so i'm very much more motivated to get through IB than i ever would be A levels (at my school that is).