Applying to US Universities - IB vs. A-Level.

No, it doesn't matter as long as you take a "challenging courseload", which IB and A Level both are. Arguably A Level is better in the sense that it's less work (3 A2s are less work than 3A2 + 3AS, or thereabouts) thus leading to more time for community service etc. which are rather necessary for admission. US unis barely know about the IB and lots of UK people apply each year so there isn't a higher recognition factor there.

Reply 2

Tyrotoxism

2

Yale will accept completed A-levels as perfect substitutes for SAT subject tests, which tips the scales in favour of A-levels - though I believe Yale are the only Ivy League university that do this.

Reply 3

Tyrotoxism

Yale will accept completed A-levels as perfect substitutes for SAT subject tests, which tips the scales in favour of A-levels - though I believe Yale are the only Ivy League university that do this.

That's true, but that'd mean applying during a gap year.
Which sort of universities are you applying to?

Reply 4

Tyrotoxism

2

LakHani_Hasnain

That's true, but that'd mean applying during a gap year.
Which sort of universities are you applying to?

Are you an international student? I only ask because your profile gives your location as Riyadh.

If I get rejected from Cambridge (which looks to be very likely) then I'm taking a gap year and applying to American universities - most probably Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Chicago.

Are you at university or applying?

Reply 5

Tyrotoxism

Are you an international student? I only ask because your profile gives your location as Riyadh.

If I get rejected from Cambridge (which looks to be very likely) then I'm taking a gap year and applying to American universities - most probably Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Chicago.

Are you at university or applying?

Yep I'm an international, doing A2's and applying this year. Applying to the US and UK together (and Pakistan :p:

), it's such a pain :no:

Reply 6

Tyrotoxism

2

LakHani_Hasnain

Yep I'm an international, doing A2's and applying this year. Applying to the US and UK together (and Pakistan :p:

), it's such a pain :no:

Where have you applied? (I realise the list could be long :p:

)

Reply 7

Tyrotoxism

Where have you applied? (I realise the list could be long :p:

)

Well i'm in the final stages of application (just have to get on my teacher's back to submit supplements and proofread), but in the US i intend to apply to:
MIT, Harvard, Stanford, University of California, Uni of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Yale, Princeton, Rutgers, Caltech, Brown, Carnegie Mellon

for the UK: Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick, UCL, Edinburgh

Reply 8

Agneisse

LakHani_Hasnain

Well i'm in the final stages of application (just have to get on my teacher's back to submit supplements and proofread), but in the US i intend to apply to:
MIT, Harvard, Stanford, University of California, Uni of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Yale, Princeton, Rutgers, Caltech, Brown, Carnegie Mellon

for the UK: Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick, UCL, Edinburgh

You realise that UC deadline for fall 2009 entry was in Nov 30, right? (though obviously it depends on which campus etc. :biggrin:

)

Reply 9

Agneisse

You realise that UC deadline for fall 2009 entry was in Nov 30, right? (though obviously it depends on which campus etc. :biggrin:

)

And I submitted that on Nov 30 :p:

Reply 10

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Agneisse

. US unis barely know about the IB and lots of UK people apply each year so there isn't a higher recognition factor there.

Really...?

First, don't many US students take the IB as an alternative to the AP courses...?

Also, at the USA college day in London a few months ago, all of the uni reps I spoke to said that they value the IB very highly as it is deemed to be challenging in the US and the IB is mentioned in all of the US prospectuses I've read (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) so I'm not sure about them "barely" knowing about it... :s-smilie:

Also...scoring 5 or more on certain subjects in HL IB can lead to you not having to take some introductory classes or fulfilling a compulsory requirement before you've even got there...

Having said that, A levels are recognised and respected and US unis understand exactly how the system works!

Reply 11

Agneisse

Graphix

Really...?
First, don't many US students take the IB as an alternative to the AP courses...?
Also, at the USA college day in London a few months ago, all of the uni reps I spoke to said that they value the IB very highly as it is deemed to be challenging in the US and the IB is mentioned in all of the US prospectuses I've read (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) so I'm not sure about them "barely" knowing about it... :s-smilie:

Also...scoring 5 or more on certain subjects in HL IB can lead to you not having to take some introductory classes or fulfilling a compulsory requirement before you've even got there...
Having said that, A levels are recognised and respected and US unis understand exactly how the system works!

I'm a US student taking the IB :p:

Personally I feel that the IB course policy when compared to the AP policy is extremely unfair, e.g. for two years of IB English we get say 3 credits, but for two years of AP English (Lang + Lit) one gets 6 credits, even though (from personal experience and talking to friends) IB students do far more than half the work of AP students and just as well cover the material in both AP years. They know the IB is difficult and often the only 'challenging program' available but they don't know the specifics, i.e. that Maths Studies very different from SL Maths which is very different from HL Maths.

Most of the top schools tend to be really strict on IB waiving-out policy, i.e. 6 or 7 only in HL subjects, whereas only requiring 4/5 in all AP courses, and 4/5 is much easier to score than 6/7. So I'd say they know "it's challenging" but don't know exactly how challenging when compared to the AP, which they know very well.

Reply 12

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13

Agneisse

I'm a US student taking the IB :p:

Personally I feel that the IB course policy when compared to the AP policy is extremely unfair, e.g. for two years of IB English we get say 3 credits, but for two years of AP English (Lang + Lit) one gets 6 credits, even though (from personal experience and talking to friends) IB students do far more than half the work of AP students and just as well cover the material in both AP years. They know the IB is difficult and often the only 'challenging program' available but they don't know the specifics, i.e. that Maths Studies very different from SL Maths which is very different from HL Maths.

Most of the top schools tend to be really strict on IB waiving-out policy, i.e. 6 or 7 only in HL subjects, whereas only requiring 4/5 in all AP courses, and 4/5 is much easier to score than 6/7. So I'd say they know "it's challenging" but don't know exactly how challenging when compared to the AP, which they know very well.

Oh okay.

Thanks Agneisse, that's interesting to know.

I'm thinking of applying to America next year...and I do the IB...

Reply 13

Ang|ophi|e

12

Take A-Levels. It's far easier and colleges will still accept it. IB is great to put on your application for US colleges, especially since they don't give you conditional offers. However, if you want to get college credit for those courses, like Agneisse said, it's extremely unfair.

Reply 14

Easywellyes

Won't make much difference aslong as you get top grades in either. Take the SATs, as you'll limit yourself like crazy without them, and they will be more important when applying. But you'll want to make sure you have top grades in A-level/IB to backup your application.

Reply 15

aniltr

ill be taking 4 as 3 alevels. IELTS, SAT, Sat Maths2, sat phy and maybe sat chem
hope theyll work well sıgh
already took 9 igcse good results

Reply 16

wordartist

From what I could tell when I was looking at schools, the IB is recognized more, since it is also used in the States. Many better schools require that you obtain the IB diploma (or whatever it is, I did AP's because that's what my school offered) to be able to count anything off your degree.

Then again, most expensive, nice, high-level private schools don't let you skip any classes anyway - public universities sure, private not so much. Personally I took about 9 AP tests, passed 7 of them with 4s or 5s, and I got an elective credit for one history (I still have to take a required history class, too), and got to skip the easy English class for a harder one, without getting any credit. At a UC, I would have been going in about Sophomore level. That's just how it is. Most Ivies are about as strict as my school.

I also will say that I know someone from my school who did a full IB program and they got about 3 classes out of the way that way. It really just depends on the school and what you end up actually taking.

Reply 17

User213115