I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking, but go for it on the AP tests. The Econ tests are supposed to be easier, and something you can get without taking an actual class if you study it. The language tests are usually harder, but if you actually know and speak Spanish, you should be fine. If you need another, AP Psychology is another easy test that people ace without taking the class…

Ok heres the skinny: IB is focused more on long expansive projects that involve submitting your work to to other students internationally and getting graded by them accordingly. Also for IB there are two levels. SL is a single year while HL is a two year program. Both of these programs require a certain amount of hours while AP does not. (HL obviously demands more hours than an SL class). Therefore, if your school district is under budget cuts and thus has a shorter school year like many schools in the U.S., you might have to sacrifice a few weekends to go and learn and all that yummyness because your IB class needs more hours in the class room. That necessarily isn’t a bad thing though if you like the subject 🙂 Another point I’d like to make about IB is that the curriculum is very diverse in that you wont only be studying American material. For example the reading list for IB English 3 HL has many different titles published internationally and you also get the chance to compare works and whatnot. Also, instead of AP exams, you are asked to do several term papers which you submit to others around the world, as before mentioned. AP, on the other hand, is ultimately focused around AP testing which you take at the end of the unit and can determine whether you get college credit for a class (you have to score a 3 out of 5 or higher to get credit) or it can determine what grade you get in the class. AP testing consists of a written portion and a multiple choice portion(5 options,not 4 like your standard multiple choice.) Mainly what I remember from my AP classes was cramming before the test in order to pass (not a lot of fun there). Unfortunately, the IB program is not recognized as much as AP classes are with colleges. Personally, I feel that the IB program is a much more dynamic way to educate because it digs deeper into concepts than simply testing kids in a high stress environment does not provide. In the years to come maybe IB will be recognized as much as AP classes do but at the moment it’s not on the same level. On the bright side, many colleges do like to see IB classes on your transcript and because of this I think it would be wise to maybe narrow down a few colleges you would like to attend and go from there. Also you have some time to think about this because you don’t take any IB classes until your Junior year in high school. Its important to know what you want and set your goals accordingly! 🙂 Both classes are higher level classes and are pretty damn challenging at times. If you are a passionate student, you will probably do fine. Great to see people interested in their own education 🙂 The bottom line is that you pick out what types of universities you want and see what looks better on a transcript for them.

If you want to go to an American school, it would probably be a better idea to just do the AP tests. The APs in Economics are about 67% Multiple Choice and 33% Free Response. That might improve your prospects of getting college credit if you don’t have time to learn the stuff well enough to do free response problems. Of course, if you want to go to an international university, AP courses will most likely not be accepted for credit.

If you are already taking IB, and have passed the tests, there is no point to taking AP, because most schools that accept AP accept IB, so it would just be repetitive. Of course you should check with the college you are interested in to make sure.