<p>Well assuming that he wants to use the credit, if they are counted on the high school transcript some colleges will NOT allow them to be used as college credit.</p>
<p>Sooo
what do you do if the state requires 3 years of math but the kid has 4.
4 is obviously better than 3.</p>
<p>Cur, OP
I’m suggesting that any corresponding AP tests be taken as an “insurance” policy, in order to avoid this situation-
"if they are counted on the high school transcript some colleges will NOT allow them to be used as college credit. "
I don’t think taking a 3 hr test that can validate the accumulation of knowledge in a course is superfluous, if it might make the difference between getting placement credit or not.</p>
<p>“what do you do if the state requires 3 years of math but the kid has 4.”
Many colleges require math placement tests of incoming freshman regardless of his AP or SAT scores. If a student shows advanced ability in math I would be very surprised that they would not allow him to start in a more advanced math course.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that at many schools the AP Credit won’t count against the unit cap while the transfer credit might. If the unit cap is relatively low, unnecessary credit could end up limiting course options.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That depends on the school. Usually it would be analysis or some other introduction to higher math and proofs. Linear Algebra and Differential Equations are the last lower division classes and often the last classes offered at Community Colleges.</p>
<p>
The AP credit policy is very clear and transparent at every school (including the most “elite”). Some are more generous then others, but you know up front what you can get credit for.
Most schools are much less willing to accept other kind of credits. Many will not accept any credits for classes that were used to fulfill HS graduation requirements. Many will not accept any credits from other schools (even if the schools are of the same “caliber”).</p>
<p>In short, APs is a much safer way to get credits, unless you are planning to enroll at the university which is offering the dual enrolment with your HS.</p>
<p>This is all in the air yet, but I am trying to get some perspective.
My question was mostly about how you claim that.
4 years of math is obviously better than 3 but if 3 is all that in needed to get a HS diploma and the student has 4, how do you claim that?
I am less concerned with university credit, more with college admission.</p>
<p>Kelowna,
your son will obviously be a “special case”. Depending on the school he will end up attending, he may or may not get the credit for the classes taken at other Us, but he will certainly be placed in appropriate level of classes. No school will deny that.</p>
<p>If your student takes a class outside of HS, and does not need it to be counted for HS credit in order to graduate, he should not put it on HS transcript (he can submit the college transcript to colleges he is applying to if he gets a good grade). That’s what mine did (still did not get any credit at their colleges, btw)</p>
<p>I think this is a complicated issue (the OP’s question), but you’ve gotten some great advice from experienced parents here.</p>
<p>
I suggest you check with the colleges your child is applying to in order to see what their policies are. Some of this can get tricky, depending on the circumstances.</p>
<p>Example:<br>
My S took his entire last two years of HS at the local state uni in dual-enrollment classes. He had started taking college classes at the local CC the summer after 9th grade. By the time he reached junior year in HS, the uni made him apply for admission. Had he matriculated at the state flagship, all of his credit would have “counted”; but he decided he wanted to apply to privates. When looking into different colleges during the application process, he contacted each prospective school to see what their policy was. One school would have accepted his college credits (because he had been “admitted”), but he would have had to apply as a transfer student. He decided not to apply there; due to the difficulty of the school’s core curriculum and different consideration for fin-aid, transfer status probably would have put him at a disadvantage. Another school would have accepted him as a freshman, but he had to go back to HS to take one class in the fall senior year to keep “one foot in,” so to speak, HS (very difficult logistics).</p>
<p>Ultimately he was accepted as a freshman at an “elite” (I think it’s generally accepted as elite) private college. He never took any AP tests, but his college doesn’t accept AP credit (uses it only for placement in core freshman courses). He didn’t get any credit for the college classes he’d already taken; but his college allowed him to place out of both semesters of freshman core math (after reviewing the syllabus of each math class he’d already taken). In the long run, that freed up his schedule a bit to take additional classes junior and senior years of undergrad, which probably helped his profile as an applicant to competitive grad schools. (He’s a grad student now.)</p>
<p>Had he chosen to stay in-state for college, he would have been admitted with ~60 semester credits IIRC to the flagship uni as a junior, straight out of HS and without having to re-take any college classes for credit. YMMV.</p>
<p>An additional word about HS class rank: My S’s class rank suffered due to taking so many college classes. The HS ranked on a numeric scale; the college gave letter grades. So the HS counted an A in college as the mid-range numeric A in HS. My S had his HS guidance counsellor attach a letter of explanation about the class rank to his college application. The admission committee did see the big picture. Also-- it probably helped his college application that all of his recommendations were from college professors who knew him well (when you’re the youngest kid in a college class, you tend to stand out 
).</p>
<p>My daughter has AP and IB classes, but her school offers concurrent classes as well and she wanted to take some classes that weren’t offered as part of the high school curriculum. We researched about 20 colleges she was potentially interested in (no Ivies or super-elite schools) and found that NONE accepted concurrent classes for college credit. None. In the transfer information section they all say something along the lines of “college courses taken during high school will only count for credit if they were taken at the college, taught by faculty of the college, were open to students of the college, and do not appear on the high school transcript.” That being the case, daughter signed up and received a scholarship to take straight-up college courses at the local CUNY. She got excellent grades and will submit the transcript for those classes separately. After that research, we decided that doing concurent classes would be a no-win situation and it seems to have been for most of her classmates. Work, difficult grades, GPA and rank impact and no credit.</p>
<p>My son will be taking 2 AP classes and 2 dual-credit classes next year. Before signing up for the dual credit, I looked at the whole list of universities he is considering (in state and OOS) to see how the dual-credit classes would transfer. Luckily for him, every school he is considering will accept them. Some will transfer in as specific university classes and others as general elective credits. But they will all count.</p>
<p>Bottom line - it depends on the university and you just have to do your research.</p>
<p>As for using them in the admissions process, from what I have been told, the adcoms look at dual credit classes just as they do Honors/IB/AP, etc.</p>
<p>
The classes my kids took during HS met all these criteria. The colleges they attended still did not award any credit for the classes, even though the schools they attended and the U where the classes were taking were equally “elite”. AP credits were given with no problem, according to each school’s policy.</p>
<p>^^ That’s an excellent point and why I think it’s so important to check each prospective school’s policy in advance.</p>
<p>
My S’s college fell into that group, due to mandatory curriculum. Every freshman takes the same core classes (although there may be different sections, more or less advanced). No AP credit is granted, on the basis that every class assumes introductory knowledge at AP level 5. (Which is also why, accounting for varied HS academic background and preparation, they offer a structured and extensive freshman tutoring program led by faculty-selected upperclassmen in the major.)</p>
<p>“college courses taken during high school will only count for credit if they were taken at the college, taught by faculty of the college, were open to students of the college, and do not appear on the high school transcript.”</p>
<p>My son’s classes will be taught by the college faculty and are the same as courses taught at the college (in this case a large community college system) but they are taught on the high school campus.</p>
<p>To get around this problem there are universities offering distance learning courses taught by the colleges professors. Online dual credit courses should have much better transferability than dual credit courses taught by high school teachers.</p>
<p>Mantori,</p>
<p>I took a variety of dual-enrollment in HS (online, college in the high school, on-campus classes) because my state paid for it. In the end, I was one class away from having an associate’s degree. Yes, it is correct that many states use programs like these to keep talented students in-state. To research how transferring these credits worked, I went to a NACAC college fair and asked the representatives of many different colleges if my courses would transfer. Many of the schools said that none of my credits would be accepted and would not recognize my AAS if I earned one. Needless to say, that ended the conversation very quickly. I only applied to schools that would at least consider my transfer credit and would admit me as a freshman, finally settling on a school that encourages students to take classes during the summer at other schools (U Alabama).</p>
<p>I suggest your son look at the sample syllabi for the AP tests and decide if he can take the test or not. $90 for a test is cheap insurance if some schools run upwards of $1k per credit. If his chosen school accepts the credit, consider CLEP examinations, which IMHO are less difficult than AP tests. Chances are, the State U granting the credit does not have much experience with the policies of other schools and even if it does, it is ultimately up to the chosen school if the credits will transfer.</p>
<p>Some colleges don’t care if the courses are taught by college professors or not–even when they are their own professors teaching in their own classrooms, and even when regular students are enrolled in the same class. Courses taken before college do not count for credit unless they are AP. Happened to my S. The moral is check individual college policies.</p>