<p>Hi. I live in the Dallas Tx area and we have a program available here where 11th graders can go to Richland Community College (program is called Richland Collegiate high school) and graduate with a high school diploma and an Associates degree. I want to know if this is a good choice or if I should just go to my normal senior high and stick to AP classes... Saving 2 years is a huge deal not to mention the money that would be saved but if its going to hurt me in the long run I dont want to do it. I plan on pursuing Dental School so will this program negatively affect my possibility of getting into dental school?</p>
<p>Thier website:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.richlandcollege.edu/rchs/curriculum.php">http://www.richlandcollege.edu/rchs/curriculum.php</a></p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>If you would take higher level courses at the CC than the AP level courses, then doing the CC program would certainly be worth it. The same if you took transferable CC courses in subjects of interest not available in your high school. But be sure to have all of the high school graduation and college entrance subjects covered if you do the CC program.</p>
<p>The CC courses may be easier to transfer credit to a same-state public university (check the articulation listings). However, AP scores may be easier to transfer credit or placement to a private university, due to such often distrusting the quality of CC courses due to variation among CCs and regions.</p>
<p>For application to some professional schools, college courses taken while in high school do get included in your GPA (check dental school policies on this), so A grades will preload your GPA in a good way, but lower grades will preload your GPA in a bad way. If you do not want to risk the latter, high school AP scores generally do not count for GPA for professional school application.</p>
<p>Also be aware that the college class format differs from high school. College courses assume much more self-motivation and give less hand-holding to keep you from falling behind than high school courses (including AP courses). They also tend to cover material at a faster pace than most AP courses, although you normally take fewer at a time (usually around four or five instead of six or seven).</p>
<p>Personally, I would just stick with HS or take credit at a 4-year place. An associate’s degree is useless and more work than just doing HS + Bachelor’s. I am sure someone here will disagree, just my thoughts.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that all public Texas colleges accept Richland credits. I know many people who have done Richland and gone to UT Dallas or UT Austin. My main concern is if it will negatively effect me getting into Dental school…</p>
<p>@chick98
I am in a similar position (my school offers AP and Dual Enrollment classes) as I am planning on going on to medical school. If you can tell yourself that you will stop at nothing to maintain As and a few Bs in those college classes, then by all means go ahead. But if you think that you might be getting alot of Bs or a C or something, then ditch it. If you take college classes from an accredited institution, they and their grades will stick with you for the rest of your life. If you are ok with that and you know that you can do well in them, then I think it is wise to take them. Just make sure you take the legitimate courses (sciences, maths, social sciences, etc). </p>