Is this a fair metric for ranking universities?

[CultureKing]

I hate the SAT. The fact that it is controlled by college board and is basically used as an incentive for schools to have AP as well to help for the tests really does not bode well for me (basically college board = evil company). I didn't get bad SAT scores but I do feel that it is biased towards AP students which is not how it should work, instead an independent organization should be in charge of testing.

[CultureKing]

I hate the SAT. The fact that it is controlled by college board and is basically used as an incentive for schools to have AP as well to help for the tests really does not bode well for me (basically college board = evil company). I didn't get bad SAT scores but I do feel that it is biased towards AP students which is not how it should work, instead an independent organization should be in charge of testing.

If AP students do better, it's because they work harder.  Seriously, the reason those classes are good are the self-selection of teacher and students, and the increased classwork (including over the summer) which allows better coverage of the material.

Get rid of AP and you're just dumbing down schools.

um... I definitely work just as hard as AP students as I am in IB, I am just not happy with how they cater the test towards AP students and that way of learning. I am not advocating for AP or the SAT to disappear, instead I would like to see the two run by separate organizations.

[CultureKing]

What do you mean by "that way of learning"?  AP and IB are essentially the same program, but IB uses more liberal textbooks.

I think that they are actually quite different. AP has a larger focus on learning the subject matter while IB has a larger focus on taking the concepts and expanding on them (if that makes any sense).

Example:
AP scores are determined by: One test per AP class each year, for the most part multiple choice (with some notable exceptions).

IB scores are determined by: An internal assessment done during the course of the class (usually an investigation or paper of sorts), and one test per class after two years, writing intensive (multiple choice is present on one section of the science test). Focus for grading is being able to explain your reasoning, though knowledge of the subject matter does have an importance in the grading criteria.

meh?

[CultureKing]

I've said it before and it still holds true, but Northwestern Oklahoma State University has just as good an education as Harvard and Yale.

Snicker

Just because you've said it before and say it now, doesn't make it true.

[CultureKing]

What do you mean by "that way of learning"?  AP and IB are essentially the same program, but IB uses more liberal textbooks.

I think that they are actually quite different. AP has a larger focus on learning the subject matter while IB has a larger focus on taking the concepts and expanding on them (if that makes any sense).

Example:
AP scores are determined by: One test per AP class each year, for the most part multiple choice (with some notable exceptions).

IB scores are determined by: An internal assessment done during the course of the class (usually an investigation or paper of sorts), and one test per class after two years, writing intensive (multiple choice is present on one section of the science test). Focus for grading is being able to explain your reasoning, though knowledge of the subject matter does have an importance in the grading criteria.

meh?

Nice attempt at self-justification, but, no, there is essentially no difference.  I think having advanced classes in general is wonderful, but once that step is reached I suspect there is no difference whatsoever in the amount of learning each program imbues.  For example, AP tests are biased towards males (who do better on multiple choice tests, though multiple choice usually is only 50% of an exam) and guessers (yes, there's a penalty for guessing, but eliminating that penalty is possible basically if you can eliminate one answer within a certain question), while evidently IB tests are biased towards females (who do better on essays) and B.S.ers (since evidently the tests do not test knowledge but how well one cleaves to the five-paragraph essay form ).

you write a 5 paragraph essay for an IB test and you are screwed.

[CultureKing]

What do you mean by "that way of learning"?  AP and IB are essentially the same program, but IB uses more liberal textbooks.

I think that they are actually quite different. AP has a larger focus on learning the subject matter while IB has a larger focus on taking the concepts and expanding on them (if that makes any sense).

Example:
AP scores are determined by: One test per AP class each year, for the most part multiple choice (with some notable exceptions).

IB scores are determined by: An internal assessment done during the course of the class (usually an investigation or paper of sorts), and one test per class after two years, writing intensive (multiple choice is present on one section of the science test). Focus for grading is being able to explain your reasoning, though knowledge of the subject matter does have an importance in the grading criteria.

meh?

Nice attempt at self-justification, but, no, there is essentially no difference.  I think having advanced classes in general is wonderful, but once that step is reached I suspect there is no difference whatsoever in the amount of learning each program imbues.  For example, AP tests are biased towards males (who do better on multiple choice tests, though multiple choice usually is only 50% of an exam) and guessers (yes, there's a penalty for guessing, but eliminating that penalty is possible basically if you can eliminate one answer within a certain question), while evidently IB tests are biased towards females (who do better on essays) and B.S.ers (since evidently the tests do not test knowledge but how well one cleaves to the five-paragraph essay form ).

you write a 5 paragraph essay for an IB test and you are screwed.

This is likely entirely anecdotal, but I'm taking the November 2008 paper for IB. I'm an international student, and the main disgruntlement I have with the SAT paper is that it is nowhere near rigorous enough to serve as any sort of metric for the very top universities. I'm hardly the brightest, but a 800/790 (disregarding writing, because it is trash) on the back of no studying whatsoever really shouldn't be possible. Multiple choice is also a stupid exam format.

I am in total agreement with you.