10 youtube channels to help you study for ap and ib exams

Hundreds of thousands of students are taking AP and IB Courses, and the hardest part for many is preparing for the actual exam. While the AP and IB classes themselves are fairly different, preparing for the exams from a general knowledge stand point is somewhat similar. Thus, many of the YouTube videos for AP classes will help you in some of your preparation for your IB assessments and vice versa. The AP exams have a scale of a 1-5, and the IB exams have a scale of 1-7. Both are generally accepted by universities, but be sure to check before you apply.

Advanced Placement (AP) exams are run by the College Board. There are just under 40 possible AP examinations within the categories of Art, English, History and Social Science, Math and Computer Science, the Sciences in general, and World Languages and Culture. The great variety of exam gives students an opportunity to explore various subjects, especially those that typically aren’t offered in schools. An AP course is centered around a curriculum sent out by the College Board on a yearly basis to allow teachers to teach towards the exam. It is very helpful for students to ask for a copy of this guide when possible because this will aid as a checklist for concepts you do and do not understand and further narrow down what you may need to spend more time on via watching videos.

The exams themselves generally contain a large multiple choice portion followed by an essay writing portion.  The essays themselves vary– they could be a multi-part math or physics problem or they could ask you to explain the diction choices of an author. It all depends on the exam. Some exams, such as the AP Spanish exams, even contain speaking and listening portions. While some schools do not offer certain AP courses or and APs at all, it is possible to self-study for them. As an aid to self-studying, videos on youtube along with past released exams are an excellent way to prepare.

International Baccalaureate (IB) courses have several different programs. They are the Primary Years Programme from ages 3-12, Middle years Programme from ages 11-16 and then for high schoolers,  either the Diploma Programme or the IB Career-Related Certificate (IBCC) which both run from ages 16-19. Since you are likely a high school student I will focus on the Diploma Programme and the IBCC. The important thing to note if you haven’t gotten into IB yet is that in your early years of high school you need to be sure to schedule in a way that would allow for you to be prepared to take the IB Courses in your later years of high school. What is great about the IBCC is that it is more flexible with your school schedule so that you would likely be able to combine them with AP courses if you’d like to take them as well.

This article goes in-depth about the specifics of IB courses, explaining how “students can take individual IB classes and earn a certificate of completion for each class (with a score of 4 or higher) or can be IB diploma students.… Students who decide to pursue an IB diploma must complete a specific set of courses, the Theory of Knowledge course, a 4,000 word Extended Essay, and 150 hours of creativity, action, and service hours. Courses are either standard level (one or two years of study, followed by the IB exam) or higher level (two years of study, followed by the IB exam).” The formatting of the IB examinations is different in that there are more essays and less multiple choice in comparison to an AP exam, and that some of your grade comes from outside assessments as well as essays that you complete during the school year. One downfall to IB exams is that you may not take them if you haven’t taken the course.

Now let’s get into the nitty gritty of why you actually clicked this article, to see some of the YouTube channels you could use to study for your AP and IB examinations. While there aren’t resources for every exam here, its a good head start.

AP Class YouTube Channels by Subject

AP United States History
One great resource recommended by both Kaitlyn Kelly and Zulakha Sheikh is Adam Norris. He has over 100 videos that can help you prepare!

AP Music Theory
One great channel for AP Music Theory was recommended by Gabrielle Scullard. It is namedwhsaptheory and contains videos that help with harmonic and melodic dictations as well as many other things.

AP Micro/Macro
Another YouTube channel recommended by Gabrielle was one for AP Micro/Macro which is ACDC Leadership. It is a very informative channel with videos that are funny as well.

AP Economics
Recommended by Chloe Lee were several YouTube channels that offer good explanations for Economics topics such as mjmfoodie, economicsfun, and Jason Welker.

AP Many Things

Crash Course is a channel with videos from John and Hank Green that has videos on US World History, Biology, Literature, and Ecology. The videos on this channel have very cool graphics that keep you entertained and focused on learning. Many people have recommended this channel and I do as well.

IB Exam Channels

Biology
One channel with IB specific videos is IB Blueprint  its videos generally review past exam essays and will help you figure out what you may need to write for future exams.

Chemistry
A chemistry channel for IB is run by Richard Thornley. He has videos on many subjects that are extremely detailed.

Math
A channel for standard Level IB Math is run by mathsl1. They have videos that break down topics such as factoring polynomials and imaginary numbers.

Since there are far fewer videos out on IB than AP, as long as you know what the curriculum for IB is asking for, it should be easy to find some AP Channels that include IB topics. While these aren’t all the courses available, they will give you a head start on your search. Often times if you are looking for more resources simply searching the name of the course on youtube will provide you with more videos for topics. Another great video resource is Khan Academy which has various videos in math, science, economics, and history on its website. If you are looking to study for an AP or IB exam– no matter which one– be sure to start studying early so that you will be prepared when the time comes. Seeing as YouTube has probably taught someone how to perform open heart surgery, I’m sure it will be able to help you!