Dual Enrollment at Montgomery College

[Anonymous]

DS is looking at the DE program to take higher level science class that isn’t being offered at his MCPS HS. It’s free and he could take it 2/week in the evenings in person. Anyone BTDT who could share pros/cons. He’s a rising 11th grader who has almost all As - I think a 4.8 wgpa - and is passionate about taking the course to prepare him for college level course. TIA

[Anonymous]

DD did DE in HS 5 years ago. She enjoyed it. But her classes were during the school day. Is he planning to do this in addition to a full HS coursleoad? That might be a lot.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, OP here. No, he would get early release after his 5th period then take the double period science & lab at MC in the evening or whenever it’s offered. This was never on our radar before but now that we’ve confirmed the class won’t be offered at his HS, this seemed like a good way to get him that class this upcoming year. We have a meeting set up with the counselor in charge of Dual Enrollment but wanted to survey the DCUM brain trust.. I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, OP here. No, he would get early release after his 5th period then take the double period science & lab at MC in the evening or whenever it’s offered. This was never on our radar before but now that we’ve confirmed the class won’t be offered at his HS, this seemed like a good way to get him that class this upcoming year. We have a meeting set up with the counselor in charge of Dual Enrollment but wanted to survey the DCUM brain trust.. I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

I’m the PP with the daughter who took DE. The quality of the courses/instruction was high. She felt it prepared her well for college course expectations. Her classes met at the Universities at Shady Grove campus but were run by MC. I do think the students were all HS but I could be wrong. However, I would expect that the evening class would be college students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, OP here. No, he would get early release after his 5th period then take the double period science & lab at MC in the evening or whenever it’s offered. This was never on our radar before but now that we’ve confirmed the class won’t be offered at his HS, this seemed like a good way to get him that class this upcoming year. We have a meeting set up with the counselor in charge of Dual Enrollment but wanted to survey the DCUM brain trust.. I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

I’m the PP with the daughter who took DE. The quality of the courses/instruction was high. She felt it prepared her well for college course expectations. Her classes met at the Universities at Shady Grove campus but were run by MC. I do think the students were all HS but I could be wrong. However, I would expect that the evening class would be college students.

I meant to add that her experience was so positive that my younger child is also planning to enroll. He plans to study psychology and wants courses beyond just AP Psych.

[Anonymous]

Both of our kids did DE. Between that and APs, one took fewer classes each year at college (good because of special learning needs) and one graduated a year early and went on to do a +1 masters.

There are no downsides

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is looking at the DE program to take higher level science class that isn’t being offered at his MCPS HS. It’s free and he could take it 2/week in the evenings in person. Anyone BTDT who could share pros/cons. He’s a rising 11th grader who has almost all As - I think a 4.8 wgpa - and is passionate about taking the course to prepare him for college level course. TIA

There are basically no cons. I would just reach out to the counselor now as the schedule for Fall 2024 has been released and classes are filling up. Also, please be aware that there are limited evening classes. So many classes may not fit your desired times and locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is looking at the DE program to take higher level science class that isn’t being offered at his MCPS HS. It’s free and he could take it 2/week in the evenings in person. Anyone BTDT who could share pros/cons. He’s a rising 11th grader who has almost all As - I think a 4.8 wgpa - and is passionate about taking the course to prepare him for college level course. TIA

Can you share what type of class he is wanting to take. There are prerequisites for most advanced classes. The only science classes he would be able to take are Biology Principles 1, Chemistry 1 or Physics. If he has an AP score he may skip some classes.

[Anonymous]

It does not sound like this is your focus but DSs college would not except credits that also counted for HS credit. Something to check on when applying outside of UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

i work in STEM at MC Rockville and can tell you that our early college classes are predominately MCPS students. If the class doesn't completely fill with MCPS students it will open to the general public. So there could be one or two older students, but I've only seen that happen once.

Our classes are excellent of course I think the best benefit to HS students is the labs, e.g., we have instrumentation your HS likely doesn't have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

i work in STEM at MC Rockville and can tell you that our early college classes are predominately MCPS students. If the class doesn't completely fill with MCPS students it will open to the general public. So there could be one or two older students, but I've only seen that happen once.

Our classes are excellent of course I think the best benefit to HS students is the labs, e.g., we have instrumentation your HS likely doesn't have.

Interesting...I did not know MC had classes specifically for the HS kids. I thought they were just signing up for classes with the college students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m wondering if all the DE students are from MCPS and the quality of the class.

i work in STEM at MC Rockville and can tell you that our early college classes are predominately MCPS students. If the class doesn't completely fill with MCPS students it will open to the general public. So there could be one or two older students, but I've only seen that happen once.

Our classes are excellent of course I think the best benefit to HS students is the labs, e.g., we have instrumentation your HS likely doesn't have.

I asked this question last year and was told by a few people that it was college kids with some highschoolers mixed in. You’re describing it the other way around.

[Anonymous]

This is true for early college which is a bit different than regular general DE. Early college kids are cohorted and registered together so they are much more often in classes with other MCPS kids.

If your child is not already in early college this won’t apply to them. Early college students spend their entire junior and senior year at MC and get an associates in a specific area of study so the path is a bit different from regular DE.

[Anonymous]

Do kids take the AP exams after DE classes to have scores to submit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do kids take the AP exams after DE classes to have scores to submit?

They don’t need to. They have college grades to submit.