Which is more impressive to colleges, AP classes or concurrent credit?

[Anonymous]

What are the +s and -s for my very intelligent HS sophomore, hoping to get into a good college, AP courses or concurrent credit college/ HS classes? Why?

[Anonymous]

Post this in the DCUM "Colleges and Universities" forum instead of here, OP.

[Anonymous]

Has your DS exhausted the curriculum in a particular subject at your high school? Most frequently, I've heard of this happening in math, where a kid gets through BC Calculus and the school offers no further math options so the kid has to take college courses or courses at another school. Absent this, I can't imagine that it would be an advantage, and possibly a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

I think what is most important is for the child -- CHILD -- to focus on what they need to focus on today. AP courses are great if the kid is interested in the subject area. Otherwise, you are heading for burnout.

Your focus seems to be on college. That probably tells me you were not raised in the US and you do not understand how our system works.

We are a wealthy country. We can afford for kids to make mistakes. In terms of life success, the key element is what they do after college and what they learn. As for college, well, the prestige is where the degree is from, not where you are admitted out of HS. UVA -- good school, you can get into doing well at NOVA.

Oh, and if you are going to med/law/grad school, good grades from any good school, whether it be Va Tech, UVA, Harvard, UMD, OSU, can get the person into a top grad school/law school/med school (with good test scores).

I know. I barely graduated HS, when to a crappy college for one year, did really well, transferred to my state school (Va Tech), did well there, and got my PhD from an elite program in my field (Penn State).

[Anonymous]

I

think what is most important is for the child -- CHILD -- to focus on what they need to focus on today. AP courses are great if the kid is interested in the subject area. Otherwise, you are heading for burnout.

Your focus seems to be on college. That probably tells me you were not raised in the US and you do not understand how our system works.

We are a wealthy country. We can afford for kids to make mistakes. In terms of life success, the key element is what they do after college and what they learn. As for college, well, the prestige is where the degree is from, not where you are admitted out of HS. UVA -- good school, you can get into doing well at NOVA.

Oh, and if you are going to med/law/grad school, good grades from any good school, whether it be Va Tech, UVA, Harvard, UMD, OSU, can get the person into a top grad school/law school/med school (with good test scores).

I know. I barely graduated HS, when to a crappy college for one year, did really well, transferred to my state school (Va Tech), did well there, and got my PhD from an elite program in my field (Penn State).


This is a big leap, PP.

[Anonymous]

The answer is twofold and simple:

a) go find out what is done in your specific school. Do that.

b) Class by class the answer differs substantially. I know in my son's school there is an English dual enrolled class that is considered harder than regular, but not as hard as AP.

[Anonymous]

You need both. Has he done his research work? Does he have any research publications? More than 1000 hours of comm service? If not, get to it. It's too late!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need both. Has he done his research work? Does he have any research publications? More than 1000 hours of comm service? If not, get to it. It's too late!!

That's certainly the impression you get when you venture into these types of forums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think what is most important is for the child -- CHILD -- to focus on what they need to focus on today. AP courses are great if the kid is interested in the subject area. Otherwise, you are heading for burnout.

Your focus seems to be on college. That probably tells me you were not raised in the US and you do not understand how our system works.

We are a wealthy country. We can afford for kids to make mistakes. In terms of life success, the key element is what they do after college and what they learn. As for college, well, the prestige is where the degree is from, not where you are admitted out of HS. UVA -- good school, you can get into doing well at NOVA.

Oh, and if you are going to med/law/grad school, good grades from any good school, whether it be Va Tech, UVA, Harvard, UMD, OSU, can get the person into a top grad school/law school/med school (with good test scores).

I know. I barely graduated HS, when to a crappy college for one year, did really well, transferred to my state school (Va Tech), did well there, and got my PhD from an elite program in my field (Penn State).

It would be nice if people could just answer the OPs question without lecturing her about asking the question in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Collleges want to see that a student challenges him or herself. You can get challenge in an AP class or through concurrent -- or, depending on the high school, through regular credit.

Your child should take the classes that interest them and do well. One won't materially impress a college admissions officer more than another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think what is most important is for the child -- CHILD -- to focus on what they need to focus on today. AP courses are great if the kid is interested in the subject area. Otherwise, you are heading for burnout.

Your focus seems to be on college. That probably tells me you were not raised in the US and you do not understand how our system works.

We are a wealthy country. We can afford for kids to make mistakes. In terms of life success, the key element is what they do after college and what they learn. As for college, well, the prestige is where the degree is from, not where you are admitted out of HS. UVA -- good school, you can get into doing well at NOVA.

Oh, and if you are going to med/law/grad school, good grades from any good school, whether it be Va Tech, UVA, Harvard, UMD, OSU, can get the person into a top grad school/law school/med school (with good test scores).

I know. I barely graduated HS, when to a crappy college for one year, did really well, transferred to my state school (Va Tech), did well there, and got my PhD from an elite program in my field (Penn State).

And your post tells me you are an idiot. Your generation's experience does not apply to today's competitive college admissions. It's a whole new world!

[Anonymous]

It's unlikely that AP classes will not be sufficient to meet the needs of your highly intelligent child. Is your child taking APs this year?

If he has already finished calculus and the post-AP classes that your high school offers, then it would make sense for the kid to enroll in college math classes. If not, he can probably just go through the school' s math curriculum. Most kids would rather take AP classes with their peers rather than figuring out and deal with the logistics of attending college classes in high school. Kids who take a moderate number of APs and do well in them are competitive for most colleges.

[Anonymous]

4s and 5s on AP exams > dual enrollment

Local college dual enrollment is only helpful if the local college is premier. If it's a community or commuter college, the classes are likely a joke – and most of the elite college won't accept cc courses.

[Anonymous]

If your child is looking at state universities, and they should be if you're DCUM middle class and can't afford $70K out of pocket, dual enrollment all the way. Having taken the DE course gets the credit for any state school, without having to take (and pay for, if applicable) AP and IB exams.

So that DE US History course will get you out of the history requirement whether you're going to UVA or ODU.

[Anonymous]

DS attends an elite LAC.
He took the AP classes and got good grades but did not take the exams for credit because he maxed out the number of transfer credits. He did this by taking college classes in the summer and during school for both his junior and senior years. He had a 4.0 from the local community college and the admissions folks seemed duly impressed with this AP + college classes workload. Plus, going in with that many credits under his belt means he can easily double major and play 2 varsity sports.
YMMV, that is my son's experience.