Advance University Credit Versus AP/IB

Advance Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) are two long-standing advance credit programs that are familiar to students and parents. Many people perceive these programs to be more advantageous than the conventional high school program in their ability to help students acquire advanced knowledge and compete for prestigious universities. 

However, while both programs are renowned for their reputation, they also have major shortcomings in terms of their structure and facilitation. These shortcomings in many ways constitute disadvantages and challenges for students. St. Regi’s Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program makes up for these deficiencies and provides numerous advantages to our students, with its nature of being a genuine, coherent blend of high school and university education.

The AP System 

The first important characteristic of AP is not an academic program. Much like the SAT, the AP is designed to be a set of post-secondary level exams that high school students can take to demonstrate their academic skills to universities. The exams are traditionally hosted in May every year. 

On the other hand, AP courses offered by certain public and independent schools are individually developed courses that are designed to prepare students for AP exams. This means that AP exams and AP courses are entirely independent from one another. Any student may sign up and complete an AP exam whether a student has taken a relevant AP course at school.

The second important characteristic of AP is that attending an AP exam session in May is the only way to obtain an AP grade. Simply taking an AP course at school does not grant students with the AP grade they need. This restriction means that the AP is flexible, in fact often too flexible in its mode of learning. To acquire the knowledge needed to participate in an AP exam, students can choose to study at school, find a tutor, learn online or work with friends. Finally, it is also important to note that the minimum AP grade recognized by most universities to conduct a credit transfer is a score of 4 out of a perfect score of 5.

Problems of the AP System

Based on the unique characteristics of AP, it is evident to suggest that the greatest shortcoming of the system lies with its lack of systematic approach and over-flexibility. Students who can succeed are often only the ones who are highly motivated, organized, and do not rely on much guided support. Students who are less organized or slow to adapt often fall behind very quickly, especially when grade 12 students also need to juggle with other commitments such as extracurricular and volunteer activities.

For parents, the greatest worry is that they can never be sure about the quality of the teachers or tutors teaching their children. AP courses taught at high schools are taught by certified teachers, but the common problem is that a teacher may or may not be specialized in teaching a specific AP subject due to his/her course load and other non-teaching duties at school. The strategy of hiring tutors may constitute a greater problem, as tutors without a standardized certification process essentially come from all walks of life. One can never be sure whether a tutor possesses the necessary knowledge and qualifications to help students succeed in the preparation of an AP exam.

Finally, another major challenge with the AP lies with the system’s nature that one single exam determines the full outcome of a student’s grade and effort – the risk is very high. Failure to obtain a relatively high grade of 4 on a single exam means that a student’s entire year of effort would be vain. Such a system generates plenty of stress for grade 11 and 12 students, who are already under a significant amount of pressure from various commitments. The system also puts students who are knowledgeable but have a tendency of underperforming on exams at a strong disadvantage.  

Our Advantages over the AP System

The St. Regis Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program alleviates problems faced by the AP system in two ways – better and more reliable teachers and lesser risk for a quality result.

Firstly, in stark contrast to the AP “find your own teacher” system, Advance University Credit taught under the Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program are precisely the same courses that are taught in St. Mark’s College and UBC. The courses are taught face-to-face by university professors who teach in St. Mark’s College and UBC. The professors teaching the courses all specialize and publish articles and/or books in the subjects they teach.

Secondly, for the students, the Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program has a much lesser risk in comparison to the AP, because it is a course rather than an exam. This means that the final grade of each course under this program is determined by a series of assignments, quizzes, research papers and exams. As the final outcome of the course is determined by steady, long-term effort, students who temporarily fall behind have plenty of opportunities throughout the course to catch up. 

Finally, perhaps the most important advantage in comparison to the AP, the requirement for an advanced university credit course to become recognized and transferrable is substantially lower than the AP’s. This is due to its nature of being an actual university course. In contrast to the high exam grade demanded by the AP, a student only needs to acquire a minimum of 50% (out of 100%) for the outcome to be deemed successful (being awarded with both high school and university course credits).

The IB Program 

Unlike AP, the IB is a full-scale, 2-year academic program comprising the DP core and 6 subject groups. While successfully completing the IB Program also provides students with transferable credits and an advantage in university competition, the workload involved is quite significant. 

Students must complete 6 subjects (3 higher level and 3 standard level), traditionally one from each of the 6 subject groups and fulfill three core requirements (extended essay, theory of knowledge, and creativity, activity, service) in order to be awarded with an IB diploma. Furthermore, major universities only recognize IB credits when students obtain a minimum grade of 6 out of 7 in high level courses.

Problems with the IB Program

While the fundamental problem with AP is the system’s lack of structure, the IB Program Is most significant problem lies on the other end of the spectrum. The IB Program is a rigid, highly inflexible system. You are either “in” the program or “out” – there is no selective completion. Much like the BC Dogwood high school diploma, one must fulfill all of its required components in order to complete the program. It is a long and dedicated commitment.

The inflexible system of the IB Program puts many students at a disadvantage, especially those who have limited time and energy, but also wish to learn more and get ahead. It also makes it impossible for students who would like to explore one or two specific course areas to plan for their future major to enrol. Furthermore, the rigid course requirements of the IB Program are detrimental to students who are talented in certain subject groups, but can not perform evenly well across all subject areas. Lastly, the high grade requirement to enable courses to become transferable university credits also force many IB Program students to give up half-way.

Our Advantages over the IB Program

Our key advantage over the IB Program rests with our Program’s flexibility. Unlike the rigidness of the IB Program, our Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program allows students to select any number of courses they wish, as each course is designed independently from one another. This model enables our Program to tailor to the ambitions and aspirations of different types of students. Those who wish to demonstrate their full capacity to universities and accelerate university graduation can take more courses, while those who simply wish to test the waters may select as few as just one course.

Secondly, since each course is designed independently, students are also evaluated independently as well. This means that unlike the IB Program where students must fulfill all required components to complete the program, St. Regis students who may be stronger in one subject area but weaker in others may simply choose their strongest and most favorable subject complete. Half-way through the program, even if the difficulty or workload become too unbearable in one course, students who take multiple courses can simply drop the most challenging course and continue with the rest. In the case of the IB Program, students must either remain in the program, or forfeit everything they have worked so hard to build.

Finally, similar to the case of AP’s grade requirement, the grade requirement for an advanced university credit course under the Running-Up Strategic Partnership Program to become recognized and transferrable is substantially lower than the IB’s. This is due to its nature of being an actual university course. In contrast to the high grade demanded by the IB Program, a student only needs to acquire a minimum of 50% (out of 100%) for the outcome to be deemed successful (being awarded with both high school and university course credits).