IB diploma isn’t completely beneficial
Full IB: it’s not easy, trust me I know. I put in the work. 150 CAS hours, hundreds of hours for the Extended Essay, and don’t forget the occasional all nighters for 7 IB classes.
Guess what, most universities do not care if you receive your IB diploma or not. On your college application, you can’t indicate that you were a full IB candidate or not and they will be unaware of all those extra hours you put in compared to your AP student counterpart, unless it is a UC school.
It is more advantageous to take AP classes or a mixture of AP and IB classes. Save yourself from the Extended Essay, TOK, CAS hours and 6 IAs.
IB tests are more expensive: they cost $125 for each test and $180 to register, in comparison to the $100 for each AP test. Furthermore, they will not offer you credit for all the IB tests you will take. A lot of schools will only accept HL tests if you get a 5 or above. SL will often not count, despite being in the same exact class as those preparing for the AP test. For example, last year I took both the IB Math SL test and the AP Calculus test in hopes of getting credit for college from the AP test and having to fulfill IB diploma requirements. It was an expensive testing season.
If you plan on applying to a school outside of the country, go for it. But, most kids will not. Most of the best universities are right here in the U.S., and it will cost a pretty penny just to apply and enroll in a foreign school, not even considering moving and living costs.
In short, I do not see it to be advantageous to be on the full IB diploma track, despite what teachers say. It may prepare you better for college, but it offers no benefits when applying to said college or while suffering in high school.
