<p>I am a junior right now, and I was wondering if anyone would recommend doing a dual enrollment at a local college (LaSalle University to be specific). How will this be looked upon by admissions staff at colleges that I may apply to? Is it worth it? Any insight would be of great assistance. Thank you...</p>
<p>I had a lot of friends who did dual enrollment. A lot of them ended up going to the local college they went to for dual enrollment (I lived in a college town and most people do stay in-state anyway, and we had some really good colleges) but some of them used their experience to go to other colleges and universities elsewhere.</p>
<p>Anyway, I say that everything that you do should not be for the impression you’ll make upon admissions officers. If you want to do the program, you should do the program. Admissions staff are not robots, and they don’t expect you to be one either.</p>
<p>That said, why do you think it would look anything but good? As a high school student, you are showing that you can handle college courses – real college courses, not the AP classes. Especially at a university like LaSalle, which is a good one. As long as you are handling your business at your high school and staying involved, a dual enrollment is a great experience both ways – you’re proving that you are able to navigate college courses, which looks good for admissions; and you’re giving yourself valuable experience in college courses, setting yourself up for a smooth transition to college. Not only that, but some of your credits may transfer and shorten your time to degree in college, saving you money.</p>
<p>I don’t know if your high school has specific dual enrollment policies but if I were you, I would take introductory general education requirements – freshman English and freshman math, definitely, as those classes will most likely universally transfer to any place you want to go. If you have more slots than that, I’d suggest doing American history and/or an introductory science course. And don’t take any classes in your intended major, as you might be required to take them over and it will have been a waste of time (a lot of schools only accept major credit within their schools and schools with which they have a consortium).</p>
<p>Is it worth what? I mean college classes = good. If your cutting out another program you’d like to go to or if it’s costing you a significant sum of money then you’d want to weigh your options, but if it’s between whether to to do it or not, then definitely go for it.</p>
<p>Can offer college credits significantly cheaper/free compared to when your off to universities.
Can exempt you out of courses.
Definitely speaks well for you as it shows you can juggle classes, activities, and… more classes.
Plus “college” stuff in high school is most likely a plus no matter how you look at it. Whether it be to show maturity, intelligence, time-management, organization, ambition, etc, it’s not like it’s possible it could hurt you… well it could.
I mean, jumping into a college course now starts up a permanent college transcript for you that follows you around like your high school transcript does. If you find you can’t handle it before it’s too late to bail you may end up with a W (withdrawn - which roughly translates to I was failing but too much of a wuss to stick it through and try to bring my grade up so I jumped the boat, though if you explain it like it was due to some emergency where you couldn’t handle the class anymore, it may not be looked too poorly upon) or if your much too late into it (beyond 35% of the class where I do it, but the percent varies from place to place) you get a flat out F that will also follow you.</p>
<p>So in order of your questions:</p>
<p>How will this be looked upon by admissions staff at colleges that I may apply to?
Good if you don’t completely screw up.
Is it worth it?
Not entirely sure what you mean by this but in all likelihood, I’d say yes, yes it is worth it.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying, juillet. And, yes, there are certain requirements for the program. I would have to take any courses that are essential to my high school graduation (i.e. - English 4, Social Science, and African American History) at my high school. Then, there is a standard course that must be taken at LaSalle, namely Civic Leadership (not sure why). There is room for 2 college electives, although I have not seen the list of possible courses. I was planning (if I participated in the dual enrollment) to take college-level Calculus as one of those electives, but I am wondering if that is considered “freshman math” as you stated. Also, my intended major, depending on where I end up going to college, would be either economics or business (finance), so I am not sure if Calculus would be a waste of time according to your assessment.</p>
<p>And thank you as well, moodragon. What I mean by “Is it worth it?” is basically will it make enough of a difference to go through all of that (although, in reality, 3 classes is not that much). Because, although I am not the type of student to stress about college admissions, I have to admit that part of my motivation for considering this program was the fact that it could help my transcript. That’s not to say that I would not enjoy experiencing the college atmosphere and coursework, however.</p>
<p>It’s worth it. But if I were you, I’d take the AP courses in at your high school rather than the AP-equivalent classes at the U because I’ve heard that colleges prefer AP courses (though at flagship schools it’s a toss up) because it’s a standard rigorous curriculum. So, I’d take AP biology instead of Intro to Biology (or something) at the U. </p>
<p>But, I mean, doing dual-enrollment itself is a sign of showing initiative. You’re challenging yourself and colleges like that. (However… please don’t do it just to pad your r</p>