Dual enrollment for selective schools?

Applying to College
1

Hi! I’m a junior this year, and my high school offers a dual enrollment plan at a college nearby (a state university) for seniors. I am interested in dual enrollment as a way to take classes in subjects I wouldn’t be able to take at my high school (and because I will have two free periods next year and I want to avoid a study hall). Whether or not I dual enroll next year, I will have taken 7 AP classes by the end of high school. I am looking at selective schools and I am not sure if dual enrollment will help my chances or if I am better off taking electives or a study hall at my high school. Does anyone have any guidance on what might be the best decision? Thanks!

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Depends on the specific courses, although just about any new-to-you high school or college course will look better than a study hall unless you would otherwise use the study hall time to achieve something impressive on your own.

In terms of perceived rigor level of high school and college courses, for most non-foreign-language subjects:

  • Regular high school courses ≈ remedial college courses. (e.g. precalculus)
  • AP level high school courses ≈ frosh level college courses. (e.g. calculus)
  • More advanced than AP level high school courses (if they exist at your high school) ≈ sophomore or higher level college courses. (e.g. multivariable calculus, linear algebra)

Also, where college and high school courses overlap in material, college courses may move at a faster pace. For example, a year long AP psychology course in high school may cover similar material as a semester long introductory psychology course in college, and two semesters of beginning foreign language in college may cover two (or even three) years of beginning foreign language in high school.

Whether the college you eventually matriculate to accepts transfer credit from dual enrollment courses taken while in high school is another matter. Some colleges have policies limiting such transfer credit. But note that if you apply to graduate or professional school (including medical or law school), or transfer to another college after starting college after graduating high school, the college grades from your dual enrollment courses will need to be included in your application along with all other college grades.

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