What do you think of dual enrollment?

[Anonymous]

Is it worth it?

Our school district just announced a program where they will pay for jrs and srs. to take community college classes for college credit. I did a little digging, though, and it looks like they are supposed to pay for kids to take classes at ANY county or state college in MD. U MD/College Park though says that they will only allow seniors to take one course per semester; it doesn't look like there are limits to the # of courses kids can take at the community college. The program also runs over summer.

This is potentially a way to save a lot of money towards a college degree especially if kids can enroll with 6-8 college courses under their belt already.

If you have a student who is fairly academically advanced, is this a good route to take?

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that the elite colleges prefer students to have taken AP and IB classes rather than community college courses as the former are considered more rigorous. I'd consider dual enrollment for my son, who is an average student, but not for a more talented student.

[Anonymous]

I did it my sr yr of HS 20 years ago. It was great. Academically, I was over HS. My parents only let me take core classes that would transfer. CC courses are not that challenging for an academic student. But it's a great way to knock out requirements cheaply. When I enrolled in college, I had 15 credits or so. What was nice was that they were automatically accepted. I did not have to get a 4 or 5 on an AP exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that the elite colleges prefer students to have taken AP and IB classes rather than community college courses as the former are considered more rigorous. I'd consider dual enrollment for my son, who is an average student, but not for a more talented student.

That may be true, but (a) I attended an Ivy and so did my husband (though for grad school) and both of us took on significant debt, yet neither of us ended up in high paying jobs! So while I understand the allure of being accepted at an elite college, the idea that our children could have at least a year or so of college education PAID FOR by the state is, right now, even more alluring.

The courses they take include:

Biology
Human Anatomy
Foreign Language
Geography
US and World History
Math (only up to Precalculus, though)
Intro to Psych
Intro to Sociology


That's basically a first year at any liberal arts college, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that the elite colleges prefer students to have taken AP and IB classes rather than community college courses as the former are considered more rigorous. I'd consider dual enrollment for my son, who is an average student, but not for a more talented student.

My DS was planning to attend a state university, not an 'elite college', but we still had him focus on the AP and IB classes that he was taking. He entered college with 21 credits from the AP classes, after receiving 4's or 5's on the tests.

[Anonymous]

Would they be considered a transfer student
Or first time freshman when they apply after graduation?

[Anonymous]

I'd focus on AP classes unless one of those classes particularly interests him or he's bored in high school. Other than sociology, and obviously pre calc, I think all of those are offered at our MCPS high school in an AP version. My DC will graduate with 10 AP classes and should get 4s or 5s on all the tests so will be able to transfer a lot of the credits to college. DC is not going to an Ivy, but a pretty selective school, and it takes AP credits in various forms (depends on the score, whether it counts for an elective, etc.). DC does not plan to take sophomore standing or graduate early, but could have at a couple of schools she was accepted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that the elite colleges prefer students to have taken AP and IB classes rather than community college courses as the former are considered more rigorous. I'd consider dual enrollment for my son, who is an average student, but not for a more talented student.

That may be true, but (a) I attended an Ivy and so did my husband (though for grad school) and both of us took on significant debt, yet neither of us ended up in high paying jobs! So while I understand the allure of being accepted at an elite college, the idea that our children could have at least a year or so of college education PAID FOR by the state is, right now, even more alluring.

The courses they take include:

Biology
Human Anatomy
Foreign Language
Geography
US and World History
Math (only up to Precalculus, though)
Intro to Psych
Intro to Sociology


That's basically a first year at any liberal arts college, isn't it?

There are schools that accept IB or AP credit but won't accept transfer credit from 2 year schools, so choosing Dual Enrollment over AP won't result in more credits, or a shorter time to graduation than AP.

If your child attends a school without AP then that's a totally different situation and DE can be a great choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd focus on AP classes unless one of those classes particularly interests him or he's bored in high school. Other than sociology, and obviously pre calc, I think all of those are offered at our MCPS high school in an AP version. My DC will graduate with 10 AP classes and should get 4s or 5s on all the tests so will be able to transfer a lot of the credits to college. DC is not going to an Ivy, but a pretty selective school, and it takes AP credits in various forms (depends on the score, whether it counts for an elective, etc.). DC does not plan to take sophomore standing or graduate early, but could have at a couple of schools she was accepted to.

So I'm new to this -- do most colleges give actual credit for AP classes, or do they just allow you to be placed in a higher level?

My own college (Brown) would not give credit for taking an AP exam.

I think they would give credit for a class taken at a 4 year college (such as U of MD) but it might be only after one has enrolled at Brown, not before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it?

Our school district just announced a program where they will pay for jrs and srs. to take community college classes for college credit. I did a little digging, though, and it looks like they are supposed to pay for kids to take classes at ANY county or state college in MD. U MD/College Park though says that they will only allow seniors to take one course per semester; it doesn't look like there are limits to the # of courses kids can take at the community college. The program also runs over summer.

This is potentially a way to save a lot of money towards a college degree especially if kids can enroll with 6-8 college courses under their belt already.

If you have a student who is fairly academ ically advanced, is this a good route to take?

I did something similar when I was in high school in the Midwest, except the classes I took were at a small, middle-of-the-pack academically small college. I think that the AP classes in my good but not great high school were more demanding, but the college classes included things I couldn't have taken in high school, gave me more experience writing analytical papers, and were a really good experience overall. I was able to transfer all of the credits to a more selective college. I could have gotten out in 3 years instead of 4, but I had a full ride and was having a good time. I got out of some general ed electives based on classes I had taken, and was able to take more classes I was interested in as a result. I think that the taking real college classes as a high school student was probably a good thing when I applied to colleges, but I think that community college classes wouldn't provide a benefit like that. I don't see any downside to taking classes over the summer, and one class a semester during the school year won't be a big deal either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd focus on AP classes unless one of those classes particularly interests him or he's bored in high school. Other than sociology, and obviously pre calc, I think all of those are offered at our MCPS high school in an AP version. My DC will graduate with 10 AP classes and should get 4s or 5s on all the tests so will be able to transfer a lot of the credits to college. DC is not going to an Ivy, but a pretty selective school, and it takes AP credits in various forms (depends on the score, whether it counts for an elective, etc.). DC does not plan to take sophomore standing or graduate early, but could have at a couple of schools she was accepted to.

So I'm new to this -- do most colleges give actual credit for AP classes, or do they just allow you to be placed in a higher level?

My own college (Brown) would not give credit for taking an AP exam.

I think they would give credit for a class taken at a 4 year college (such as U of MD) but it might be only after one has enrolled at Brown, not before.

You need to research the policies at the school your DC is attending. The policies vary widely. The Ivies tend not to give credit (as I noted my DC is not going to one so that doesn't apply). If you do get credit you do what you want with it. Mine is opting not to try to graduate early but will take higher level classes in some subjects. She will also pass out of many of the distribution requirements. It also provides some flexibility for study abroad and/or internships down the road.

Many selective colleges are less charitable about classes taken at other colleges but again you need to look at the policy for the specific college your DC is attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that the elite colleges prefer students to have taken AP and IB classes rather than community college courses as the former are considered more rigorous. I'd consider dual enrollment for my son, who is an average student, but not for a more talented student.

That may be true, but (a) I attended an Ivy and so did my husband (though for grad school) and both of us took on significant debt, yet neither of us ended up in high paying jobs! So while I understand the allure of being accepted at an elite college, the idea that our children could have at least a year or so of college education PAID FOR by the state is, right now, even more alluring.

The courses they take include:

Biology
Human Anatomy
Foreign Language
Geography
US and World History
Math (only up to Precalculus, though)
Intro to Psych
Intro to Sociology


That's basically a first year at any liberal arts college, isn't it?

12:47 here-- I ended up at Georgetown. Not ivy but not too bad either. I also got approval after freshman year to take summer classes at MC. All told it think I transferred about 24 credits in. I carried between 18-21 credits a semester at FU

[Anonymous]

Hit submit too soon. At Georgetown I carried between 18-21 credits and that combined with the CC transfer credits allowed me to graduate in 3 yrs.