Many people ask about the differences between IB (International Baccalaureate) and AP (Advanced Placement).
AP courses are for students in the United States. IB courses are for students world wide.
Both are advanced, rigorous courses that require diligence and critical thinking on the part of the student
Both are highly regarded by college admissions
In general, IB tends to focus on fewer topics and go more into depth while AP tends to cover more topics, but not as much in depth.
AP has a single assessment - an exam in May at the end of the course
IB has multiple assessments - an exam in May at the end of the course and Internal Assessments geared towards each class (creating a lab experiment, writing a paper, doing a presentation, etc.)
AP courses have a final score of 1-5; IB courses have a final score of 1-7
AP has several individual course options
IB has several individual course options and the IB diploma program which is designed to work all of the classes together.
Many colleges offer credit for IB and/or AP classes. Each college sets its own policy about earning credit, so if you have a college in mind, their policy can almost always be found on their website. For example, some colleges give credit for an AP score of 3 or higher, while others may require a 4 or 5. Similarly, while IB HL courses often get college credit with a score of 4 or higher, some schools require a 5, 6, or 7. In some cases, a college will have a policy for the completion of the IB diploma. For example, the University of Buffalo in 2012 awarded students who received a total of 30 points in their IB diploma with a 5 or higher on their HL classes 30 credit hours. Each college sets its own policy and those policies are subject to change in any given year. If you have an idea about which college you or your son/daughter would like to attend, you are encouraged to investigate their policies.
Another side note about college credit: typically college credit does not translate to financial savings. Unless the student earns enough college credit and plans carefully, he/she will likely not graduate early. Most of the time, credit means the student has more choices for courses to take while at college, either because they are exempt from an entry level course or they are allowed to register earlier than their peers. Tuition costs tend to remain the same.