<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore with a strong interest in economics. I hope to study economics in college but unfortunately my high school doesn't allow any freshmen, sophomores, or juniors to study the subject. As such, this summer, I want to either learn economics independently or through a summer course. My local community college does offer a 'Principles of Microeconomics' course which is essentially the same thing as AP Microeconomics (I've compared the curricula). Florida Virtual School, JHU, and Northwestern all offer the AP Microeconomics course as well. This leads me to my two main questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Which class will most likely be better--an online AP course or the same course at a community college? </p></li>
<li><p>Which class would colleges such as Pomona, Columbia, or Stanford prefer? I'm just listing a few selective schools I'm interested in applying to. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>My parents are leaning towards the local community college class because it is $100 cheaper and because I would not have to take the AP exam in May. However, if I were to take the AP exam in May, I could gain one of the AP scholar awards.</p>
<p>Any insight would be extremely helpful. Thank you for your time!</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the colleges preferences, but online AP classes are generally very tricky. I’d recommend taking classes in person and then taking the AP exam anyways.</p>
<p>Take the community college class. Learning in person is a much better experience and you’ll learn more. It’s also much more likely to transfer. </p>
<p>If you really want to take the AP exam self study it and sit for it anyway. Just get a review book or two in the spring and do those to refresh. Also, remember that a ton of the applicants to those schools will have those AP awards, as well as things like national merit commended, and NHS membership. Once you’re at that highly selective level they just don’t mean that much because everyone else has them.</p>
<p>Take the class at a community college. I have taken a couple of online classes, and it is just not as good as being in the classroom.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my local community college recently informed me that the Microeconomics course was filled up. I e-mailed the professor but there probably isn’t much I can do. This summer, aside from working on my leadership and debate skills, I wanted to also learn Computer Science and Economics. At this point, I’m not sure exactly how to go about learning these subjects. Should I purchase textbooks? Should I sign up for online classes (i.e. through Florida Virtual School)? Any advice helps. </p>
<p>Also, thank you to everyone who has helped me out so far! Your advice is invaluable.</p>
<p>There are courses through Udacity and other online companies that are free and give you the basics. My D took a statistics course through Udacity because she wanted to learn more about Stats and didn’t have time to take the class during the school year. There isn’t really a spot on the Common App for it, as they are non-credit classes, so she listed it in the additional information section. I know they offer quite a few computer science related courses. Even without the credit it shows some initiative and interest to have taken the classes.</p>
<p>Florida Virtual School is very comprehensive. You just have to be very dedicated. Luckily, I live in Florida where I can take the classes for free</p>
<p>I don’t suppose you’ve had calculus yet? </p>
<p>MIT has an open courseware microeconomics class free with video lectures but it expects some prior knowledge of calculus.</p>
<p>I think the ability to self-study classes depends partly on the individual and partly on the type of material. In general, most people get much more out of history/lit type classes taught in person. For science/math classes, if you have the nature to learn on your own, the online stuff can work well and still be rewarding. Not sure exactly where in this spectrum economics falls.</p>
<p>FLVS is really up on its tech in the past year. Also, the forums and communication tools are great. Just call or email the teacher if you need help</p>
<p>intparent–I’m looking through Udacity right now and I can earn credit for $150, a price that is as cheap as the price of the classes that are offered at my local community college. It seems like a very novel concept and website; I’m interested in learning Java through the website. The deadline to sign up is today though…I can’t decide between learning Computer Science through FLVS or through here. Maybe I learn Microeconomics through FLVS and Computer Science through Udacity?</p>
<p>amissy14–Care to elaborate and help me decide which to use? </p>
<p>celesteroberts–I haven’t taken a calculus course yet (I’ll be in the class next year) but I did learn some basic concepts through Pre-calculus (i.e. limits and derivatives) this year. I listened to some lectures from the MIT course and I honestly prefer some sort of of teacher-student interaction. The lectures are good for supplemental knowledge. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice!</p>
<p>@scholar35 Well I’ve taken an EdX course (a MOOC site supposedly similar to udacity and coursera) and two courses on flvs. On flvs, you get assigned a “class” and a specific teacher, so you can get much a more personalized educational experience. And, not to mention, the flvs courses were even more comprehensive and thorough than their traditional-school counterparts. You will not get a watered-down education. However, it can be a lot of work. Especially with an AP class. If you are looking to do it during summer, great, you just have to be willing to commit the time. And if you do it during the school year, just be sure to not let it slip to the back of your priority list. Another helpful bit of info is that for most assignments, I’m pretty sure you get 1 - 3 resubmissions per assignment, and you receive the highest grade of all the submissions. You also get instructor feedback each time they grade an assignment.</p>
<p>Definite dual enrollment, and here is why. The AP exam is not until May. So if you take it this summer, you will forget enough of the material by next May that you will not score well. And, you will probably have enough AP exams to stress about. Doing econ as dual enrollment will give you a great mix of dual enrollment courses and AP courses. It is a bonus to have both on your applications.</p>
<p>amissy14–Thank you so much for your help! I might enroll in AP Computer Science during the school year, but unfortunately I already made the commitment to enroll in Udacity’s course because I get guaranteed credit if I pass through SJUSD. </p>
<p>undecided2014–Luckily enough, the economics professor at my local community college is allowing me to register despite the fact that the class is already filled up. I’m a happy camper now. 
Thanks for all of your help guys and I hope you all have a great summer!</p>