The bloody fight between IB and AP has been a popular one within ZIS for years now.

You as a ZIS student, have to choose between either of the two programs.

Jeez, this makes it hard, doesn’t it?

With all this gossiping about the programs, how the hell can you settle on one after you’ve been filled to the brim with false information, by people “who know what they’re talking about”.

“IB is harder and gets you in a better university!”, “You will not be accepted into Harvard with IB, you have to take AP!”.

All these myths are completely false, and whoever told you these, should probably unplug their Wi-Fi.

The first common rumor is that IB is a lot more popular than AP.  This was true in the past at ZIS but is not the case anymore as AP has grown a lot more in popularity throughout the past 5 years.

Assistant principal Mr. Kirkwood commented, “that right now (2021) it’s exactly 50/50, and in the last 2 years is been pretty close to 50/50”. The numbers have been “pretty consistent” with not one program being favored a lot more.

Another well-known rumor that is often gossiped about in the hallways is that IB is for Europe and AP is strictly for the US. 

Both programs are “global” as Mr. Kirkwood stated.

Since IB has been around for a longer time in Europe, and AP in the US misleads to conclusions that you need the corresponding program to study a specific region.

Universities throughout the world are acquainting themselves more with each program, so when deciding between IB or AP, know that universities are not biased on the two.

AP has also been terribly mistaken for its difficulty, and often judged as being the easier one between the two.

 Mr. Kirkwood firmly stated that “ the honest truth is that there is no difference in difficulty”. Both courses are equally rigorous in content and skills. It’s the learning approach that is a bit different in each program. 

Mr. Kirkdwood said that “IB is not something you can self teach or self learn, in the same ways as you can in AP”. It all depends on what kind of learner you are.

If you truly want to go deep into a topic and explore all aspects of that topic, take IB. This will take 2 years, where you will learn a lot.

In AP, there are 1-year courses, which also go into depth but not to the same extent as IB, and are more fast-paced. The selection of classes you have from AP is astonishing and will surely leave you intrigued.

Stop listening to the “fake news” about IB or AP and know that no program is winning this bloody fight.

Do not let rumors or debates between people convince you to one program. No one can choose it for you, but yourself. You know yourself best and what’s best for you.

So choose wisely.