Thank you, chenchuan, for sharing your local stats. Even if it is a small sample, its still another datapoint to show that given an area with comparable schools and student bodies, both AP and IB will offer similar levels of education and successful outcomes.
As I continue to mull this (as I'm sure I will until my daughter finally commits to a HS), I think you have a good point about the student self-selection process, and also agree that it may be very acute in our area.
Just yesterday, I ran into my daughter's old 5th grade teacher, who has been teaching gifted kids here exclusively for 25+ years. I mentioned our HS dilemma, and she was absolutely astounded that we were considering other non-IB HSs in our local area..."why wouldn't she go to the IB HS - its more a fit for her; what they do, the students.." Obviously, she was saying this not for the IB, per se, but because of its student body and the general academic environment. Now her own kids didn't attend the IB high school, but "that was them" and for us, the IB high school was more the fit, she thought. Just found that very interesting and little more re-assuring to get a 3rd opinion from an ex-teacher who knew my kids and the school choices we have very well...
