Hi,
So I’m wondering if anyone can inform me about the differences of taking dual-enrollment honors classes vs the equivalent AP classes:
a) Which class will have more homework/study time?
b) Which option looks better on college apps?
c) Which one do you recommend in general?
Thank you!
At my school Dual Enrollment is at the school. I’m assuming yours is too. Dual Enrollment is pretty much equivalent to AP except there is no exam at the end. If you are going for competitive colleges, I would take AP because some colleges will not accept dual enrollment credits from high school.
A. Homework and study time completely depends on the school and teacher. Either one could be harder than the other.
B. AP
C. AP
I’m the opposite in that I automatically think of dual enrollment classes as being taught on a college campus and taken with college students. However where I live I’ve never heard of it any other way since we have schools close by. Just fyi - there are colleges that give dual enrollment credit but only to dual enrollment classes taught on a college campus such as BU, NYU, Bentley etc.
IN terms of looking good for college admissions either is fine. Top schools tend to give little to no credit for dual enrollment and aren’t the most generous with AP either. Some schools simply want you to take their versions of the classes or perhaps they use their placement tests to start you in a higher level. When it comes down to it you need to check each school you want to apply to to know their policies. Colleges know both that dual enrolment classes vary and that AP are not a true representation of college classes. When my daughter was in 10th grade needing to make decisions we probably talked to over 50 admissions departments at schools private and public in state and out of state at all levels and they all said they consider dual enrollment to be rigorous for acceptance. We mostly talk to schools in New England and NY since we felt that was where she would go. I can tell you at a college fair I talked to a rep from some state school in California. He was amazed that almost everyone who stopped there said they were not going to apply after he mentioned an art/music requirement. If you want to go to a UC make sure you look that up.
I don’t recommend one over the other. Think about why you want to take them. If your just taking core classes as AP classes what would you gain by doing dual enrollment instead. Would having a college schedule benefit you. Can you easily get to/from the college.
For my daughter she opted for dual enrollment over ap. She did two years of all dual enrollment because at our school it is all or nothing or a full day of high school classes plus 1 extra de a semester. Her reason was that it would allow her to take more business classes then she could take at the high school. She is starting college in the fall as an accounting major with a possible dual major in finance. She took what she needed to graduate high school and get into most colleges but didn’t double up on core classes and instead took business electives. She loved picking her class times. She didn’t have school on Fridays etc. However she still went to the high school for extra curriculars as desired, could eat lunch there (never did) etc. She also joined the college national honor society rather than NHS because it worked better for her. She had one recommendation for college from a college professor and 1 from a high school teacher. She applied for scholarships from the high school and received a few scholarships at senior awards night and a nice surprise one at high school graduation.
As to getting into college she got into 8 out of 8 that she opted to apply for. I did insist she apply to at least one state school as a financial safety. Otherwise she picked where she was interested in. We did look at potential merit knowing she wouldn’t get much financial aid. She did not choose to apply to a top 20 school and did elect to stay in New England/NY. The school she picked is a school she fell in love with which had nothing to do with dual enrollment credits. In the end she picked a private school that gave her excellent merit (making it affordable). It wasn’t until after she accepted them and got her final transcript sent did they evaluate her transcript. She ended up getting credit for all of her classes. She is officially starting as a junior. In reality she is a freshman with advanced credits though her standing will be nice when it is time to pick classes or where she is living next year. We are thinking 3 years is more realistic though it will depend on dual major, internships/coops, study abroad, taking grad classes (two) as an undergrad etc.
Basically I don’t have any right/wrong answers but follow your heart as to what you think is better and don’t be afraid to call admissions at potential colleges to ask the same questions.
I forgot to mention work - it really depends on the subject/professor/student. College classes may not care about attendance, homework etc and the grade may be based just on a midterm and a final. Extra credit is probably rare. You still want great attendance and to do your homework. You also need to follow the syllabus and not rely on being reminded about things. In a class like calculus the amount of time can depend on the problem inself but also how easy/difficult the subject is. Another class may have a lot of reading assignments to read before each class to participate in class discussions, require a 1 page paper for each class as well as a few longer papers (7-10 pages) in addition to an all essay midterm and final in which analysis is needed not memorization.
Thanks for the response! The DE classes are at a CC, not school. I also don’t care about credit transferring to unis because I don’t plan on even AP transferring and I don’t really want it to. All I’m really looking for I suppose is the highest quality education.
Thank you so much for the long and detailed reply.
The dual-enrollment classes are at a college, and the credit is not going to transfer (AP or DE), so it is not a large concern for me. I am dual enrolling currently during the summer and will have completed all the courses I need to graduate high school. However, I do not want to immediately jump to a four-year university due to my age, and I am not interested in a gap year. Rather, I am searching for ways to flesh out my high school transcript since I do not have any pressure to complete x or y for graduation. I think dual enrollment will offer more interest-specific courses, but I am worried how this will be perceived on my college apps.
You daughter’s story is very inspirational I am in a similar position that she was in! Thank you for the insight.