The Benefits of AP and IB courses

By taking college-level Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, you enter a world of knowledge and a learning environment that you might not otherwise experience in high school. By taking AP or IB exams, you have the opportunity to earn credit or advanced standing at many of the nation's colleges and universities.

The greatest benefit of AP and IB is the experience of taking academic courses in an enriched environment with classmates who are seeking intellectual challenge, are motivated to learn, and are committed to excellence. The courses offer students opportunities to delve more deeply into content, research in a scholarly fashion, and learn in a college-like inquiry-based manner.

Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses taught in high school. Most four-year colleges in the United States and colleges in more than 60 other countries give students credit, advanced placement, or both on the basis of AP Exam scores. International Baccalaureate courses are designed to be high school courses by an international standard, though universities throughout the United States consider them to be college-level courses by a US standard and therefore offer advanced placement and/or credit for scores earned on IB assessments. By entering college with AP or IB credits, students have time to move into upper-level courses, pursue a double-major, or study abroad. Students must take the AP or IB assessments to be eligible for college credit.

Additional information about AP is available from Student Services, the AP Coordinator (Dr. Korey Bell at Harriton, bellk@lmsd.org; or Mr. Jared Epler at Lower Merion High School, eplerj@lmsd.org or the College Board's website.

Additional information about IB is available from Student Services, the IB Coordinator (Mr. Thomas O'Brien, obrient@lmsd.org), the International Baccalaureate website, or LMSD's IB documentation online.