<p>I actually don't want to apply as a transfer. I'm just trying to do an Associate's degree before I graduate high school, because I think it would look really impressive on my application and I really love math. This is one of my major extracurriculars. Also, I'm not enrolled in dual enrollment, taking these classes won't benefit in any way in high school, I'm just doing this for my own interest. Also, I don't mind not getting credit for my courses at the universities I want to go to.</p>
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I'm just trying to do an Associate's degree before I graduate high school, because I think it would look really impressive on my application
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<p>The associate degree itself doesn't add any impressiveness to your application. What courses you take could add impressiveness to your application, but those courses may not help you get an associate degree.</p>
<p>My son was dual enrolled his junior and senior year. The rules in NM are that you can only dual enroll in classes not otherwise offered at you high school. Our schools are suffering from lack of art classes, so he elected to take 6 college level classes in drawing and animation. His HS gpa was a 3.8 and his ACT score was a 30 - not world class. None the less, I firmly believe that his dual enrollment put him over the top in several cases and did set him apart enough to get into film/animation programs at RIT, RISD, USC, NMSU and CalArts.</p>
<p>There's another reason for dual enrollment that is the primary reason my 2 Ds each completed > 30 hours of work toward their HS diploma at our town's state university. Public universities in Georgia require only two years of a foreign language and relatively low levels of math for admission. Since most of the HS students in the state are aiming for the in-state public universities, there's not a lot of HS demand for levels 3 and 4 of a foreign language or for Calculus and other higher-level Math courses. Rather than hire teachers for classes that may only have five students, the schools direct students who want greater depth than that required by the state schools to dual enrollment. It's a good option for the student and an economic boon for the high schools. And because our HS offers only 4 or 5 APs, it worked well on college apps for my Ds, both of whom will be attending an Ivy this fall. But it comes with some inconvenience for the student. The university's classes aren't offered in the same time blocks as the HS's, so finding times that will work is a challenge. And believe it or not, because a 3-credit college class only meets for one hour, three days a week, it only counts 0.6 HS course credits. We need two college classes to take the place of one class period that's not utilized at the HS.</p>
<p>gadad: Yeah, I know what you mean about the two years of language. My GA HS offered 4 five languages, but only 2 years of each of them. I ended up taking two of French and two of Spanish, to have four years of language. </p>
<p>I agree that the courses can be inconvenient. My children have been limited to evening courses. In my daughter's case, it means that on days when she has college courses, her day starts at 5 AM and ends after 10 PM, not including homework she has to do after she gets back from her evening class.</p>
<p>i'm becoming a junior this year and there are only 3.5 credits i need to graduate (humanities and english). There are no more math classes past calc ab so ive been taking classes at usf (same as gandhi) for something to do. next year i will go to school for 2 periods and then take whatever classes i want at usf. Without dual enrollment id have to take PE and art classes to pass the day.</p>
<p>in my county you get 1 credit for a semester college class and .08 added on to you final gpa.</p>
<p>Gandhi had an 8.34 or something</p>
<p>tokenadult: I think classes such as Linear Algebra, Calc III, Diff Equations, & advanced physics classes are taken in a positive light by colleges?</p>
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Also, any kind of test scores they might need? I've heard of some people getting actual placement tests, like COMPASS. I have ACT and SAT scores but they're not exactly the greatest right now.
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<p>COMPASS=Computer Operated Major Pain And So Stupid</p>
<p>I had to take the Compass for dual enrollment... they told me it would take 3 hours... I took forty minutes this included an institution made computer placement test. An interview is required and the interviewer simply said "Well... these are off the charts... and a 99 is, for all intents and purposes, perfect." It is very difficult to get a 99 on a test that doesn't have over, what, 60 questions? He didn't realize this was percentile and babbled on like an idiot.</p>
<p>No one on CC should worry about COMPASS.</p>
<p>I just talked to a relative who went to a community college for a couple years and she told me almost the exact same thing! Now I really hope I don't have to take it. </p>
<p>Anyways, does anyone have a favorite class they took at a college? I really want to take cake decorating as an elective. I always bake and decorate stuff for friends and family dinners and stuff so it would be cool. Same with art, i've taken lots of classes at my art center and want to take something to prepare my portfolio more. Then there's the actual academic classes, like a higher level English classes and more science...</p>
<p>I'm way too excited for something that i'm not even involved in yet.</p>
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classes such as Linear Algebra, Calc III, Diff Equations, & advanced physics classes are taken in a positive light by colleges?
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<p>They should be, especially if they are designed to provide lower-division preparation for upper-division major courses in related subjects.</p>
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Now I really hope I don't have to take it.
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<p>Dual-enrollment admissions requirements can vary greatly, both from high school to high school and from college to college.</p>
<p>Sometimes D.E. is reserved for only the best students in each high school class. But, elsewhere, D.E. is also offered to (and a great choice for) less motivated students who may have snoozed through traditional classes like English and math but are eager to tackle pre-professional courses in areas like culinary arts or automotive technology.</p>
<p>So any high school student who likes the idea of being in a college environment should investigate the option, not just those who are at the top of the class or who have maxed out the offerings available at the high school.</p>
<p>As a student who has taken ten courses at a local CC and a few AP courses, I have to say that the college courses are considerably easier and a lot more flexible.</p>
<p>my gov teacher was talking about this in class one day. Some of the kids in my graduating class of '09 (approximately 60%) wanted to do the dual enrollment scheme at a local community college for classes such as English Language and Government and Economics. She (my gov teacher) advised us that top universities would look at our transcript and see that we decided to take "the easy way out" instead of taking the more challenging AP Classes, thus depreciating our chances of getting into that university. Seemed logical at the time so most of the students who wanted to do dual enrollment opted out.</p>
<p>Whether dual enrollment or the local high school AP course is tougher depends on local conditions at each school. But you know what pride will motivate your high school's AP teachers to tell you.</p>
<p>Plus my school is in top 200 of NewsWeek so go figure.</p>
<p>Linear algebra: way harder than any AP math course. My local university never got us past eigenvectors, so if you can dual-enroll in a good school for this subject, it will be particularly impressive.
Dual-enrollment creative-writing: Unless you have a sizable set of similar peers, don't waste your time.</p>
<p>Unless you have no other alternative to the course at school (for example, my school lacked AP Calc BC, so I had to take Calculus B MAT 152), only take the course if the course level is 200-300+. </p>
<p>For language courses, your course level MUST START at 300+, preferably 400+. (Note that however, that this is for language courses, not linguistics courses; linguistics to language is like economics is to math.) This is for continuing a language of course. Start a new language only if tends not to be offered by many high schools -- e.g. Sanskrit, Native American languages, or something highly polysynthetic. Otherwise, just wait till you're matriculated to start one ("officially" -- feel free to self-study at any time.)</p>
<p>Also, if you're sufficiently advanced in a language such that you can take graduate-level coursework in that language (very possible for fluent high school polyglots), then of course that's going to be better than any AP course.</p>
<p>What I have heard at college info sessions is that they prefer AP/IB courses since they are national/international standards over DE course in the same subject since the college can't assess what the curriculum was for the various DE courses at the many community colleges. However, and this is my opinion, if there is not an AP/IB course available, a DE course is excellent to continue your studies. Another factor is where you DE. Some students live near excellent universities that permit DE.</p>
<p>The state's flagship university will generally offer plenty of classes beyond the AP or IB level for an ambitious dual-enrollment student, and of course any student can take an AP test in any subject without taking an AP-designated course first. I agree that not all local colleges really offer courses more challenging than the best courses in particular high schools--that has to be investigated on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>I'm personally glad that I didn't enroll in college classes during high school. It left me time to focus on my AP classes and spend my remaining years with my friends. College and high school are completely different atmospheres and I'm happy with my choice of keeping the two apart.</p>