College courses to take over the summer during HS?

[Anonymous]

In my DC's chemistry course at NOVA (he's the one who took it as a rising high school senior), he was surprised how many UVA, and other students from great schools were taking the course with him. Some were taking it because they were home for the summer and wished to get the class done with a good grade so they wouldn't have to take it when they return to campus. But of greater interest were those who knew they were taking Inorganic Chemistry or something in the fall at UVA so signed up for a NOVA course of the same to "prep" for the UVA one - so they would be ahead of the curve when the "real" class came.

[Anonymous]

I took economics and a literature class at my local community college the summer before freshman year. With my 9 AP credits and 6 from the community college, I was able to save $10,000 and graduate a semester early.

[Anonymous]

My DS is dually enrolled at a 4 year college. He isn't worried abt credits although many public universities will accept them. It will show he can do work at the college level and he can wrap up undergrad and grad degree in 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is dually enrolled at a 4 year college. He isn't worried abt credits although many public universities will accept them. It will show he can do work at the college level and he can wrap up undergrad and grad degree in 4 years.

In the DC area, Fairfax County offers dual enrollment to George Mason (but you still have to pay $400+/credit), PG offers dual enrollment at College Park w/o tuition. But the others only offer programs though community colleges/UDC. I wonder if there would be more interest in these programs from college prep caliber students if they allowed coursework at 4 yr colleges. It would seem to make more sense than the typical AP load to me.

[Anonymous]

School Without Walls students in DC may apply to GWU for dual enrollment. They apply just as any other college Freshman using the common app. There is an interview process with GWU admissions.
The students selected earn an associates degree plus complete their remaining high school requirements.
The GWU tuition is paid for by OSSE. It also pays for the books and lab fees. Students can continue to participate in SWW activities and sports teams and/or participate in GWU programs (except sports teams).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is dually enrolled at a 4 year college. He isn't worried abt credits although many public universities will accept them. It will show he can do work at the college level and he can wrap up undergrad and grad degree in 4 years.

In the DC area, Fairfax County offers dual enrollment to George Mason (but you still have to pay $400+/credit), PG offers dual enrollment at College Park w/o tuition. But the others only offer programs though community colleges/UDC. I wonder if there would be more interest in these programs from college prep caliber students if they allowed coursework at 4 yr colleges. It would seem to make more sense than the typical AP load to me.

All I can add to the conversation is that our private didn't offer some AP courses and DC wanted further prep for the SAT II subject matter tests. So she applied to GMU and NOVA as 'nondegree high school student" and signed up - after passing math tests (easy) - college chemistry and an advance math course to be taken during the summer. NOVA was much less expensive than GMU but the professor was horrible. Note to self: Always read RateMyProfessor.com. If a professor has a horrendous profile there's usually a reason. But DC took both courses, got As and her high school added them to her transcript which boosted her high school GPA above the max. The fact that she reached out and did this summer before senior year must have held some sway in the college applications came because she got in to all her early actions schools including UVA. As for did it help on the SAT Chem test? Hard to tell. The field is so vast that even a college chem class doesn't cover everything that's on that that test. She got to about 730, but at least she can point to the college chem class and say "see, I did it, including labs, at the college level and got an A".