Is AP the same as extended IGCSE?

Answered

APs, IGSCE, GSCEs, and IBs are like comparing apples, oranges, bananas, and strawberries. They have different flavor profiles and are not interchangeable proxies for one another.

What they show in common to US Admissions officers giving a holistic review of your academic profile is "course rigor" which is paramount to gaining entry to top American colleges.

But since US top colleges are often not a meritocratic process, keep in mind that if you land yourself on an Ivy League campus, you might find yourself in the same company as Grabbe and Goyle (dim recruited athletes) or Draco Malfoy (legacy status) who got there with less evidence of intellectual vitality and course rigor.

The bottom line is that if you do well in either of these types of classes and can show evidence of your top marks and test scores, you will be given a bump on your college admissions. But no one will deny you admission because you earned an IB diploma instead of taking 12 AP classes instead.

The rule of thumb is that a top American college admissions office will be very familiar with global course rigor standards. Therefore you will not run into any problems applying to a Top 50 school in the US. However, if you apply to the University of Kentucky or Alabama, I'm not so sure that their admissions officers are currently up on global academic standards and would give you a fair shake.

Good luck and write or engage with the admissions office of your college list if you are not satisfied with this answer.