What would look more impressive on a college application, 3 A.P. classes or 3 classes taken at a local state university for college credit? I am trying to decide what to do in anticipation for my spring semester of high school.
<p>You should choose whichever one you feel will provide the better educational experience w/o regard to impressing adcoms. If you take the univ. courses, consider taking the AP exams also. Some colleges will give credit for AP but not for college courses taken in high school (Harvard is one).</p>
<p>The three AP courses are more impressive because university admissions people don't know about what you really learned at a local university but can compare your grades and AP test scores to other applicants.</p>
<p>College classes more likely to transfer. Some schools no longer take AP credits.</p>
<p>take the college classes and the Ap tests</p>
<p>this way you can get the transfer credits, and if a particular school doesnt take those credits you get Ap credit</p>
<p>Which schools no longer offer AP credit??</p>
<p>Go w/ university classes and take the AP tests.
My S is taking 0 AP courses but several college level courses (Physics with Calculus, Calculus III, etc) and plans to take the AP tests. His school is not "big" on AP because they do not want to be "told" what to teach or restricted as to subject matter.</p>
<p>I agree, go with J/E. AP is great but you can't compare it with a) an assured transfer credit (if you did your HW) and b) true college experience. You will be much farther ahead if you do J/E. And leaving high school early is good too.</p>
<p>Almost all universities take J.E. Credit, except for a select handful. I am currently taking college courses along with APs. I think that logically, J.E. is much better because it gives you a better idea of what college classes are really like, and it gives you more freedom of class selection and times, unlike hs. However, I think that a lot of universities want to see that you took the most difficult curriculum available at your h.s.</p>
<p>Tabbyzmom,
Is your S attending Tulane in the fall? If so, did Tulane classify him as a transfer student because he has taken so many college classes?</p>
<p>Why not take a mixture? I took four AP and two college courses. The college I go to will take the AP credits and put them on the transcripts as if they were taken at the college... no distinction. I've checked with a few of the colleges I'm looking at and they're more accepting of transfer credits then APs. Also, the college I go to will give me credit for the AP science labs which is very rare.</p>
<p>... take note that I am not considering any ivy-ish schools so they might be different on the transfer thing.</p>
<p>Hi vicks546, my son WANTS to attend Tulane in the fall, but the scholarship news yet to come will tell the tale.
He has not taken ANY college classes per se; his high school has college LEVEL classes. It is a residential statewide magnet math, science, and arts school on a college campus - the classes are taught using college textbooks. His Linear Algebra teacher told us that she was actually teaching LinAlg at graduate school level. But to answer your question, he'll still be a "new" freshman.</p>
<p>Take both! I took two night classes (3 hours twice a week..hard to stay awake when class gets out at 10, but worth it) while taking a solid schedule of 5 APs, and as Managing Editor of our yearbook.</p>
<p>Granted, it was a very busy (and sleepless semester)..but I'm still alive, and admitted to Georgetown!</p>
<p>ps, fewer and fewer top tier schools accept APs anymore. You'd have to look into individual schools, but a lot of the ones I was considering offered credit for mostly 5s (and some 4s)...</p>
<p>What is your goal here? If your goal is to learn the subject, you should choose the course that will give you the best learning environment. If your goal is to demonstrate to admissions officers that you have challenged yourself, both are good but AP might have a slight edge because ad coms have a better idea of what it means (unless you are taking courses at a college that is well known). </p>
<p>This issue is most complicated if your goal is credit after you matriculate. Some colleges are more generous about AP credit (esp 5s), and some are more generous about transfer credit. There's no rhyme or reason to it. If you do not know at this point where you will go to college, your safest bet is to take the college course, and then take the AP exam at the end. Warning - the college course, even if it's excellent, may not cover the exact same material that is in the AP curriculum. If you choose to do both, you will need to work thru an AP review book also to make sure you know the exact material the AP test will be drawing from.</p>
<p>Would taking the A.P. exam be unnecesary after earning the college credit? Hypothetically, if one receives an A from the college course, wouldn't there be no need to take A.P.? By the wy thanks for the help everyone.</p>
<p>I disagree with barrons.</p>
<p>At least in Georgia, it's very easy to transfer public university credits. Make sure the public university you want to attend accepts the credits, make a minimum of a C, and boom - it transferred.</p>
<p>Take note of what I said. I said its easy to transfer public university credits. If you want to get those to transfer to a private one, good luck. It is much harder, though still possible.</p>
<p>The good thing about A.P. is it's nationally recognized. A five is a five, whether you live in Alaska or Washington. But, an A from Ohio University, is that the same thing as an A from Cal-Berkeley? That's the difference.</p>
<p>Yeah, I didn't answer the question.</p>
<p>If you are SERIOUSLY considering an in-state, public university, go with the joint enrollment. You have the potential to earn more credits that can be transferred more easily.</p>
<p>If you have even the slightest desire to attend a private university, I'd go with AP.</p>
<p>Vicks - The "credit" does not reside in the course or exam, it is totally up to the college granting you a diploma. "Credit" really means "credit towards a diploma". Some colleges (esp. privates) are more generous about AP credit, and some (esp. state) are more generous about transfer credit. Unless you already know where you are going to college, you cannot reliably select btwn AP and a college course based on getting credit.</p>
<p>I am currently a dual enollment student at a state university...I go to my HS for half the day and to the college for the other then I go to my job after that. It is pretty hectic and was difficult at first, but when I got used to it it wasn't a problem and has actually turned out to be one of the most positively influential experiences of my life. I have a 4.0 GPA in the college courses (higher than my HS GPA). I think the college classes are easier than HS ones. My classmates (in HS) and I took the same class but I only went for 1 hour and 15 minuntes 2 days per week and they went 2 hours for five days per week. Being around different people who don't aim at destroying you so they can take your class rank is really great. In college, nobody wanted to see me fail nor were they unhelpful like at my HS. I think dual enrollment is great, especially if you do it at a university and not a CC.</p>