Hello! I currently go to a low-income high school. We have VERY limited AP’s (only 5 on campus) so the alternative is to do classes at a local college (D2, non-competitive). Many people have told me that DE classes at colleges look better than AP’s. I’m a junior right now in 3 AP’s & 2 DE’s right now. Do they actually stand out to highly competitive universities, or should I just stick to the other AP’s at my school during Senior Year? I’m prospective for PoliSci student with good grades & high test scores. Will my chances of admission improve having Political DE’s too? Thank you in advance!
It depends on the specific courses.
If the college courses are higher level than AP courses (e.g. math courses more advanced than single variable calculus), or in college level subjects that are not offered as AP courses (e.g. political science courses other than US government and comparative government), then they can only look good.
If the college courses are ones that AP courses cover approximately similar material to, it can depend on whether the college favors college courses or AP courses. It can depend on whether the college courses are taken at the college or on a high school campus.
If the college courses are lower level ones that are considered remedial from a college viewpoint (e.g. high school level courses like math below calculus), then they would not look any better than high school courses.