Dual Credit and AP mess up

<p>My naivete screwed up DS’ GPA.</p>

<p>His high school has many AP classes which are also dual credit thru community college. The class is taught at the high school. The rationale is that kids with test anxiety or schedule conflicts can receive college credit without need to take AP exam. Well, in the early years of high school we had DS do both. His AP Exam schools were great even though he didn’t earn As in the courses. We had them sent to Bama before orientation for tests prior to 12th grade.</p>

<p>1 DE course did not have a corresponding AP exam, so DS had the community college transcript sent to Bama.</p>

<p>Now I discover, even though Bama will not grant him credit for the dual enroll course since he has already received credit for the AP exam, the GPA of the dual enroll is part of his total GPA. Since they were mainly Bs, the overall GPA is being pulled down. Not only that, but it looks like he “repeated” the classes since his “attempted” credits and “earned” credits differ by 9 credits.</p>

<p>What is the best method to concisely explain the discrepancy for scholarship apps and internships? Is it reasonable to state “my UA GPA is ____; this excludes credits earned through high school dual enrollment courses”</p>

<p>You had no choice but to send Dual Enrollment class GPAs, Bama asks for all transcripts. The GPA on your son’s transcripts will show the University of Alabama GPA and the Transfer GPA as well as the Cummulative GPA. The transcript also lists AP classes separately. I would think most institutions understand the wording. Usually on applications there is an area where you can explain any grade discrepancies, perhaps he can use that area for an explanation. If he plans on applying to any medical schools, those dual enrollment classes will be calculated into his overall GPA.</p>

<p>Are these scholarship and internships asking for explanations about the discrepancy? If not, I doubt they’ll care.</p>

<p>The difference doesn’t necessarily mean “do overs”. Sometimes it’s because of a class withdrawal. My younger son withdrew from a class during Spring of Frosh year since he got that Swine Flu that was going around and he didn’t think he’d do well in a class. So, in the semester it shows 17 attempted hours, and 14 complete. I doubt any internship or REU noticed. I know that my son never offered an explanation. He was req’d on his med school app to explain any withdrawals, so he did in that case. No med school ever asked him during his interviews.</p>

<p>I’m confused. My hs senior who is probably going to attend Alabama is taking courses at his high school that are taught by a CC teacher. He could get credits at the community college if he goes there or, since it is Project Lead the Way classes, we could pay a fee and have the Milwaukee School of Engineering put these on their transcript. Since they are not courses that would transfer etc., is he obligated to send in the transcript from that Community College? I just assumed that since he took them in high school and they are on his transcript, that this was enough. (He also took 2 night classes - digital electronics 2 and a CNC class…do these have to be reported?)</p>

<p>Yes, if he enrolls for a Dual Enrollment class from any college, you are obligated to send transcripts from each college. My son had AP classes plus two dual enrollment classes. The dual enrollment classes were from two separate universities, so we had to send a transcript from each university, even though the courses were listed on the high school transcript. The AP classes are only on the high school transcript.</p>

<p>Thanks. I will have to take a look at his transcript so far from the community college to see if everything is transcribed correctly. He has all A’s in these engineering classes so I’m not worried it will effect his GPA, but since these classes “don’t count” for any of his course requirements or electives, I somehow didn’t think it necessary to send in the transcript. Thank you for clarifying this for me as I definitely want to follow the rules.</p>

<p>Kjcphmom, my UA son also was in PLTW. As he was a sophomore at the time of the first credit, and we had no idea where he’d wind up at for college we ponied up the fee to the RIT. Since RIT was on trimesters, even though his transcript said 4 hours per class, son only got 2.64 hours per class. UA would have let him skip some of the early engineering courses because of the credit but son chose not to. </p>

<p>In Degreeworks, the credit looks like this</p>

<p>GEC 197 Principles of Engine A 2.64 Summer 2010
Satisfied by: 0617269 - PRIN OF ENGINEERING - Rochester Institute Of Technol</p>

<p>It’s listed under Elective Courses. I don’t think it counts for a class, but it is included in the Overall Credits Earned and in calculated in his Overall GPA.</p>

<p>robotbldmom and kjcphmom</p>

<p>DS was initial told when he applied back in 8/2012, that he did NOT have to send the CC transcript because the grade was reflected on the high school transcript. If you are in this position, I would ask for something in writing from each college applied.</p>

<p>One of DS’ AP/Dual Enroll classes was at the age of 14. As a parent, we relied on the guidance from the high school to take as dual rather than just AP – live and learn. I now know better and DS2 will not be taking dual enrolls.</p>

<p>Just frustrated with myself that we did not understand the consequences of our choice would effect his ability to apply for research and scholarship programs during the college years. At 14, we thought a B in a class was “good”</p>

<p>M2CK</p>

<p>The applications are not asking him to explain differences. The overall GPA is just lower than the application cut offs.</p>

<p>Longhaul;</p>

<p>I am really surprised that your Guidance Counselor and the College didn’t explain the downside of DE classes, the potential for damaging your College GPA vs. the downside of AP classes…labor intensive and not passing the test means a lot of hard work for not.</p>

<p>My D chose the DE route too and had a horrible professor for an intro to chem class…the third highest grade in the class and she received a C! She worked hard and had a tutor…he was a bad teacher who wrote his own exams. I actually spoke to the dept. head at a later time…every other professor curves, except him. It was a life lesson for D and she learned to scrutinize professors that first week of class to try to determine if their teaching style will work for he. She hates that her GPA is not perfect but with hardwork at Bama, she can get pretty close.</p>

<p>It was the first year DE was offered. Basically, the High School AP teachers went thru a “training” program. Kids in the AP class could pay the CC for credit, take the AP exam or do both. The class continued to be taught just as AP was in the past. So AP English Language also was ENG 101 </p>

<p>I think because it was the initial year, the school really wanted to push the program. </p>

<p>I never realized the GPA carried for life if the credits did not count at any college he attended.</p>

<p>Yes, definitely the bad advice from school hurt us. College Confidential and further research taught me dual enroll taught on high school grounds wouldn’t be transferrable credits at 90% of colleges, so he ceased paying the DE once we were better informed. </p>

<p>He isn’t looking at med school, so at least our ignorance won’t hurt too bad. It will just restrict some scholarship apps.</p>

<p>I have two questions now on dual enrollment. Waaaaay back when I was earning credit through DE, my hours transferred, but not the GPA. That was actually unfortunate for me - I did well on those courses! </p>

<p>My son will have 27 hours to transfer to Bama through DE. Sadly, he blew one 3-hour course. Happily, he got an A+ in another. The A+, however, shows as an A on the college transcript because that particular college does not award A+ as a grade (it is an A+ on his high school transcript) </p>

<p>Now his Bama GPA will start out lower than we had hoped, due to the low grade. AND he doesn’t get the A+ boost on the high grade. In order to keep his scholarship, do they figure those DE grades into the scholarship eligibility GPA, or only in the overall degree GPA? Also, do you think there is any way to prove the A+ and at least get help for the GPA that way?</p>

<p>If a college which awards letter grades doesn’t award A+ grades, then there is no way to get an A+ from a course taken at that college, even if the course was actually taught by a high school. This happened to me many times in K-12 and in the college courses I took during high school. My state has standardized transcripts and GPA conversions for high schools which do not include A+ grades, so there was no way for students to have over a 4.0 unweighted.</p>

<p>it’s worth noting that UA doesn’t want students to lose their academic scholarships and has generous rules which allow students to keep their scholarships. When determining scholarship eligibility for current UA students, UA doesn’t look at the GPAs of students until the end of their first year and then each semester thereafter. Students with academic scholarships who have GPAs lower than 3.0 are placed on probation and allowed to keep their scholarships provided their semester GPAs during probation are 3.0 or higher. The probationary period ends when their cumulative GPA is 3.0 or higher.</p>

<p>FWIW, even though UA permits A+ grades for undergraduate courses, instructors reserve the right not to have a grading scale which doesn’t include A+ grades. There is a movement to end +/- grading for undergraduate courses at UA (graduate courses don’t have +/- grading), though UA isn’t having much of a discussion about it at this time.</p>

<p>I seem to recall that UA uses overall GPA for scholarship eligibility and know that it only uses the undergraduate UA GPA for Latin graduation honors.</p>

<p>Thanks Sea_tide! So, a 3.0 is all that is required for keeping a merit scholarship? Sometimes I see 3.3 mentioned.<br>
Also, how does AP credit get transferred? Are there grades attached based on score achieved? Or just as credit with no grade?</p>

<p>Yes, a 3.0 is what you need for the scholarships. (Check your scholarship award paper.)</p>

<p>The 3.3 is to remain in the Honors College.</p>

<p>AP credits transfer the credit value only with no grade attached.</p>

<p>HTH</p>

<p>MaryJay…</p>

<p>is your son a NMF? </p>

<p>The 3.0 (or 3.3 for the NMF stipend) is figured at the end of the school year. So, I doub t this will be a problem for your son. It’s not based on what he enters with.</p>

<p>For prospective students/parents reading this thread…</p>

<p>If your child will be applying to med school, then those DE grades will count by med schools, so don’t take them casually. Serious business!!</p>

<p>Thanks for the info! No real worries - son is Presidential, but not NMF. His collegiate GPA is still well above the 3.3, just not perfect. It will just be an incentive to keep those grades up!</p>

<p>No chance he is looking at med school, either. Although, that IS important info to know for those thinking of that! Both my kids have had/will have about 40 college hours due to DE or AP and went to different schools and NO ONE ever warned them of that!</p>