Validating IB Classes

[Charlie W]

Good morning, all. Does anybody know which departments at USMA will validate AP courses but not IB's? Current cadets, are there any specific courses that you would recommend trying to validate?

 

[Dustoff17]

Good morning, all. Does anybody know which departments at USMA will validate AP courses but not IB's? Current cadets, are there any specific courses that you would recommend trying to validate?

What do you mean by “validate”?

 

[Charlie W]

What do you mean by “validate”?

As in, using a high score on an AP exam to not have to take a class in college. USMA has information on it here, though I haven’t been able to find many specifics about validating IB classes.

I’ve spoken to a current Cow who validated a few AP courses, but wasn’t sure about validating IBs.

 

[DrMom]

During BCT you will have the opportunity to sit for exams to validate your classes. If you are taking HL Math, be sure to sit for the Statistics exam because you may have sufficient knowledge to validate a semester of Stats. This will not get you out of taking math classes, it will move you to a higher tier of math. Also, if you wish to validate physics, because you are taking HL Physics, you will do that prior to the start of Yuk (sophomore) year. You can have your scores sent to USMA and they will take them into consideration for placement. If you validate courses, you still have to take a full schedule and stay for the entire 47 months...it just opens up more time for elective or working on a double major or minor.

 

[USMA2026Cadet]

I took the IB Diploma Programme in high school and was unable to validate anything except calculus (which is just a higher level like DrMom mentioned), and CY105 through my own knowledge of computers. Validating courses at USMA is pretty rare, usually, it's just to the next level. I actually don't know anyone who has validated any other courses, but I know people who are super strong in history and physics from high school and are in advanced classes for those. They told us during CBT that nobody validated plebe English- zero.

 

[USMA2026Cadet]

It really isn't that big of a deal though, as everyone in the plebe class is taking (mostly) the same courses. You can't jumpstart your major freshmen year, and only take a few major classes yuk year, so USMA will make sure you get a core education regardless of the amount of IB 7's or AP 5's you have.

 

[DrMom]

I took the IB Diploma Programme in high school and was unable to validate anything except calculus (which is just a higher level like DrMom mentioned), and CY105 through my own knowledge of computers. Validating courses at USMA is pretty rare, usually, it's just to the next level. I actually don't know anyone who has validated any other courses, but I know people who are super strong in history and physics from high school and are in advanced classes for those. They told us during CBT that nobody validated plebe English- zero.

One of my cadets did IB w/ 4 HLs...he validate Stats, and elevated to JEDI Math, he validated chemistry and physics--which again, just opened him up to taking more physics; he also validated the computer course, which also opened up more time for more computing. No one really gets a lighter schedule. Also, he had done Spanish SL--rather than HL--and switched his language to German for the one year or so of required study of a foreign language.

Edited to add: He did SL English yet validated into a higher level English/writing class as a plebe. Again, you are not skipping a semester with AP or IB classes, you are just adding additional classes often at a higher level based on the assessments during BCT.