Dual Enrollment in High School

[SandyinMonterey]

Anyone have experience with their son/daughter taking college credit classes while still in High School? Is it better to take a college credit course in high school than an AP or Honors class? What do you think colleges prefer to see on a transcript?

 

[Pixie Dusted Snow]

My niece took several college courses in high school. By the time she got to college she had more than half the credits needed for an Associates Degree.
She could have graduated with a Bachelors Degree with one major and two minors in 3 years but ended up spreading it out to 3.5 years so that she could play one more year of spring sports (that was last spring.... so she got a few games in and then everything was halted). She did her internship this past fall and graduated last month.

I'd say colleges like to see anything showing that the student wants to go above and beyond the minimum requirements.

In the long run I think taking college courses is the most beneficial so lessen the class load once the student reaches college as long as they feel up to the task.

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids took both, thought AP’s were harder and showed more rigor. It’s the luck of the draw if they will transfer, same with AP’s. Keep in mind that if one gets a bad grade in a dual enrollment class, that is now a part of their college transcript.

 

[MudQueen22]

My husband is a school administrator. This really depends largely on the individual student and family. For our personal children, my husband would prefer they take the dual-enrolled. It allows the student to take a class at college rigor while getting the guidance from a high school level teacher. In our case, it is considerably less expensive as well. (It runs from $200-$600 per class, depending on which college(s) the school has an agreement with.) The only downside is the need to double check that the credits will, indeed, transfer to the college that the student plans on attending.

 

[sponica]

I think it would depend on the college system they would be going on into. The AP credits you know what you'll get across the board (generally speaking). The dual enrollment credits don't always transfer to the college they go to. So unless they're going to stay in that system it might not be as worthwhile.

Depending on how things are structured, you can do them both. Or you could at my high school. Dual enrollment courses were in the afternoon and almost all AP courses ended before the dual enrollment kids left for the college courses.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Anyone have experience with their son/daughter taking college credit classes while still in High School? Is it better to take a college credit course in high school than an AP or Honors class? What do you think colleges prefer to see on a transcript?

just what I think but I would look at more college classes as it will make class load at beginning of college easier

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

When I was in high school, my school only offered dual enrollment, not AP. It was really convenient and the classes transferred as college credit, giving me a semester of college by the time I finished high school. The only issue I had was that I was taking the classes at my high school, yet we received credit through a local junior college, so there was an issue where I had to retake Calculus 1 in college because my calculus dual enrollment class transferred as a different, lower level math course. I still got credit for it, but it didn't meet the Calculus requirement for my major.

 

[TCRAIG]

I would recommend AP or better yet IB classes over entry level college classes...especially if they’re at a Junior or Tech college...unless the student intends on going to a Junior College or Tech school post high school...Jr or Tech credits MAY transfer to a 4yr college but don’t necessarily transfer as the course needed as a pre-req or specific class...just as general subject credits.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I think it depends on your child's schedule..
One of my sons had all his credits except english and so they had him half days all year so the college classes made perfect sense. My other son it was going to put him homework hell and we advised against it so he could enjoy senior year.
They can start taking classes in the summer after graduation if they want to get a jump start.
( Two of my three went to community college after HS the third had a full scholarship to a major university and his classes he took in hs transferred fine with the counselors help)

 

[PHXscuba]

I've put three kids through with dual credit and AP. Everything ended up transferring (all to out-of-state private and public colleges) but it varied how.

Examples:
--an AP World History didn't actually fulfill any requirements but gave my son 3 credits toward graduation.
--My daughter got a basic biology credit for her dual enrollment anatomy class but still had to take anatomy at college for her major. She took the AP physics test but didn't score high enough to get credit.
--Other daughter's statistics class didn't automatically transfer, but they manually reviewed the credit and gave it to her.

So varied experiences, but it helped all 3 graduate early, get into a major program early, or have easier loads in the first couple years of general ed credits.

With hindsight even though everything didn't happen perfectly I think overall it was well worth the money and hassle. AP is cheaper but they might not get any credit unless they get a good score on the test. Dual credit should just be treated like a transfer credit in most cases, but it costs more and you keep the grade you have, so you might transfer a B or C.

PHXscuba

 

[debster812]

I think I’d also have your child reach out to Admissions of the schools they may be interested in, to see what the college or University wants.

DS just graduated college in May, but in HS he played soccer in the fall, ran winter and spring track, and played club soccer in the winter and spring. He went the AP route, took 3 classes as a Jr, and 2 as a Sr, and scored high enough on 4 of the exams to earn credits. He was an Environmental Science major, and his university gave him Gen Ed credits for AP ENVISCI, but he had to start at the beginning at his college. So it really depends on the school, the track, what the classes are, and how they relate to the Major.

 

[JenBush]

In most cases I’d recommend dual enrollment classes over AP classes, but first check with the colleges your child is considering to see which dual enrollment classes transfer and which just count as electives. At my high school there was no extra fee(they even paid for textbooks) for dual enrollment classes so it was an awesome way to earn free college credit

 

[Elephantay]

Homeschoolers do this all of the time, since one semester of college counts as a full year of high school work. Its also very inexpensive, and there is no exam at the end to see if you've earned credit, unlike AP courses. I don't think Honors classes are comparable- they are good to show that your student has been challenged, and a B in an honors course shows that as well, or better, as an A in a regular college-prep class. For our kid, it helped with confidence for him to see that he was able to manage a college-level course.

 

[kanerf]

I did it when I was in high school. It helped that the local Junior College shared the campus with the high school and some of the high school teachers taught there as well. I was bored to death in the last few years of high school and doing college classes helped with that.

BTW - I just looked at an old transcript and found that I earned 30 college credits while I was in high school or roughly half the way to an associates degree.

 

[FrankieWinthrop]

Hey - I haven't read all the posts above, but I wanted to give my feedback. I now work at the system office, but was a Transfer Credit evaluator at a college for many years prior. If your student is able to take dual enrollment courses, I would highly suggest that over AP. Getting AP credit relies on getting a high enough score on the end of course test. Some colleges require a 3, some colleges require a 4. College credit, though, relies only on the grade earned in the class. If you get a C - it transfers to most schools in the USA. Some students can make great grades in AP classes, but then not do so well on the end of course test. That, basically, makes that whole semester wasted simply because they didn't earn that 3 or 4 score required. Dual Enrollment classes taken through a college are looked at just as any other college transcript.

I can't speak for other states, but in Georgia, there are 17 introductory college courses (i.e. ENGL 1101, MATH 1111, PSYC 1101, etc.) that are 100% transferrable to any school in the University System or Technical College System. As long as the school is "regionally accredited" basic courses typically transfer easily nationally. The accreditation of the school where the credit is earned is what is most important.

 

[ElizabethG]

HS Juniors and Seniors in MN can choose to take college courses either full or part-time at most State Universities and Community Colleges. So, they take classes with other college students and the professors don't know if the student is in HS, or not.

HS students get the credits and books for free. So, it is a great way to get a jump start. A previous poster mentioned a cost, so I don't know if that is typical or not.

You still have to fulfill your HS requirements, but it is pretty easy. A 4 credit semester class counts as a full year class for HS. So, Freshman Composition takes care of 2 HS courses in English.

I did it part-time my senior year. My son went full-time his senior year. My daughter is currently a junior and is going full-time to a local CC.

 

[kwdw]

I work at a competitive college. In general, the best answer is that your high schooler opts to engage in a rigorous selection of classes and performs well in them. Colleges have a huge variety of policies about acceptance of AP exams and dual enrollment credits. While you could review the policies of a couple schools your student might be interested in, the truth is you can’t predict the future in terms of where they want to go to college and what the policies will be at the time. Either option will help prepare your child for college in the first place. If using these potential credits to shorten your child’s time in college is a goal, then you have to do a lot of research about the applicability of either the exams or dual enrollment courses at the places they chose to apply.

 

[MATTERHORN]

Absolutely better to do Dual Enrollment!

With AP, if you don't pass, you waste your entire year! Not true with Dual Enrollment!

Right there is the biggest plus there is, above all else.

Both of my girls graduated high school and got their AA that same summer! It's been amazing. Oh, and did I mention, FREE!!!!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Yes, also forgot to mention like posted above, another plus is one semester of English in Dual Enrollment counts for an ENTIRE year of English in AP high school classes.

 

[Julie Amber]

Concurrent or dual enrollment is way better than AP. My daughter is taking classes through the college as a sophomore right now. Works out great.