Hi, I’m currently a sophomore in high school. I am really interested in participating in a dual enrollment program at a local community college: I would take all of my classes there for my junior and senior years, and would be eligible for an associate’s degree and a high school diploma at graduation. I am also drawn to this program because it would give me extra time to practice my instrument and participate in a volunteer program at a local hospital. However, I am really concerned about how it would affect my college admission chances. I’m mostly interested in big state colleges in the South, like LSU, UGA, and UA. I have a 31 ACT score, and am currently taking AP World and AP Human.
It really should help your chances as you are taking more rigorous courses, but that is only if they will still consider you an incoming freshman. Transfers generally have a harder time getting in. Check with the school’s you are targeting and make sure this is the case. FWIW, I know someone who did dual enrollment (not sure how much) and is at USC now.
What are your high schools AP offerings like? Would you be able to do extracurriculars? What do you need an associate’s for, anyways?
That sounds like a great idea, but transfers usually have lower acceptance rates. What would you major in? Would you do ECs?
if you’ll still be enrolled in high school, you shouldn’t be considered as a transfer in the purpose of admission.
And once you got into your desired university, you can jump right into junior year. Dual enrollment sounds great and I would do it.
“I am also drawn to this program because it would give me extra time to practice my instrument and participate in a volunteer program at a local hospital.” While you will spend less time in class, and therefore have more flexibility in your schedule outside of class, you shouldn’t make the mistake of assuming you will have more time total. College classes generally expect the student to do more homework per instructional hour outside of class. For instance, if you take calculus 1, the instructional time will be about half as for calculus AB in your high school, but you will still have to master the same material–not half as much.
@mathyone
That’s half true, but you also have less instructional class time. For gifted students, who can do well by just going to classes, it actually gives them more free time believe it or not.
Not sure what you mean by “do well just going to classes”–usually there will be problem sets or papers and usually these will take more time outside of class than a high school course’s work would. Of course it depends what the subject is and how rigorous the CC is. Our dual enrollment classes are a little easier than AP classes I think, but you can’t just show up for class and not do substantial work outside of class.
OP, if you are interested in UA, you should check out their scholarship offerings and make sure you take a shot at the best scholarships, which are extremely generous.
Apparently you’re still considered a first-year student, even with the dual enrollment. I would still play lax, and violin, and participate in school clubs, but I would be able to do more volunteer work. For the dual enrollment I’m probably going to major in Psych or Social Work (I want to work in child life)
Apparently dual enrollment students still apply as first-year students, and go through the same app process as other high school students, so I wouldn’t have to apply as a transfer. I would probably major in either Psychology or Social work during dual enrollment, as I want to work in child life. I would definitely still participate in ECs- I play lax, violin, participate in a health care club at school, and teach music to little kids, and want to continue these. Since dual enrollment students have the same schedule as college students, I will get the opportunity to practice more violin, and participate in a hospital volunteer program. My only concern is whether the fact my school offers a lot of APs (something like 17) negatively affect my chances of being admitted
Also, I was interested in earning my associates while in high school as my family really won’t be able to contribute much to my college education, and my school pays for all of the dual enrollment tuition. So it’s basically 2 years free college! I also really hate the idea of student loans, so you can see why this appeals to me so much 
Apparently you’re still considered a first-year student, even with the dual enrollment. I would still play lax, and violin, and participate in school clubs, but I would be able to do more volunteer work. For the dual enrollment I’m probably going to major in Psych or Social Work (I want to work in child life)
Apparently dual enrollment students still apply as first-year students, and go through the same app process as other high school students, so I wouldn’t have to apply as a transfer. I would probably major in either Psychology or Social work during dual enrollment, as I want to work in child life. I would definitely still participate in ECs- I play lax, violin, participate in a health care club at school, and teach music to little kids, and want to continue these. Since dual enrollment students have the same schedule as college students, I will get the opportunity to practice more violin, and participate in a hospital volunteer program. My only concern is whether the fact my school offers a lot of APs (something like 17) negatively affect my chances of being admitted
Also, I was interested in earning my associates while in high school as my family really won’t be able to contribute much to my college education, and my school pays for all of the dual enrollment tuition. So it’s basically 2 years free college! I also really hate the idea of student loans, so you can see why this appeals to me so much
Earning an Associate means nothing unless you plan to stop there, so don’t focus on it. However, taking the right classes NOT for an Associate but to transfer, would definitely mean 2 years of free college. And if you got an ACT 32 or 1400 CR+M on your SAT, you’d get 8 semesters of free tuition at UAlabama, meaning you could get your Master’s in Social Work too, so free grad school on top of it and the ability to make a living right after college. (Note that Social Workers make VERY LITTLE so you need to choose universities that will give you large scholarships. If you’re very low income, it means 100% need universities and universities where your test scores allow you to get full tuition/full ride.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/schools-that-meet-100-of-financial-need-2/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html)
There are other ways you can positively impact a child’s life: work in Public Health, in Urban Planning, as a child psychologist, as a shelter controller, as a teacher… During your two years of gen eds you’ll be able to explore many subjects and think about what you want to do for a job.
The caveat is that you’d have to do well in your college classes. The normal load is 5 classes a semester but for your first semester you should take only 4 to ease yourself into the pace, unless you’ve already handled 5 AP classes and gotten A’s.
Indeed, you’ll have 3 class meetings per week over 4 months to cover the same amount of material as an AP class that meets 5 times a week for 10 months. That gives you an idea of the pace. Each class period will require 2-3 hours of homework (students often underestimate how much they’re supposed to know, and really “know” it in depth, not just “recognize” or “have an idea of”.) You’ll need to schedule plenty of library time.
The normal expectations if you were in a 4-year college (and thus what you’d need to take in order to transfer in a favorable position) would be you take 2 semesters of English Composition (preferably the Honors version), Math (precalculus + either calculus or statistics - college statistics may actually be more important for social work), foreign language through Level 3 (Level 2 = Level 3 in HS - and I’d strongly suggest, if you stick to Social Work or may consider teaching, that you consider a minor in a foreign language in order to have fluency in it and understand another culture, its problems, its ways of thinking, its values, etc.), Sociology, Psychology (1-2 courses each), art (1), history/philosophy/literature (1), 2 science classes with lab = total, 14 classes.
So, first semester = 4 classes, second semester = 5 classes, first semester senior year 4 classes (to leave room for college applications, unless you’re done over the summer in which cases 5 classes), 2nd semester senior year 4-5 classes, total = 14-15 classes and you’re done with all your gen eds for most universities on your list.
A typical first semester would include English, Math, plus either Foreign Language or Science AND sociology or psychology. You could of course register for 5 classes and see if you’re getting less than a B in a class, drop it before it turns into a W on your transcript (there’s a deadline by which you can drop and the class never appears on your transcript).
My d dual enrolled her senior year full time at a four year state university and got into all but one college. She was accepted to every honors program. She applied to the schools you mentioned plus another 10 or so. You are classified as an incoming freshman so long as you do not take classes after you receive your degree. However you might want to stay just shy of 60 credit hours. Also make sure the classes will transfer.
Also i know in georgia you have to be careful nit to complete all high school requirements until spring semester of senior year or you can end up with a forced high school graduation.
Please double check with each college to get exact instructions on how to maintain your freshman status while dual enrolling. Some might have a limit on the number of hours you can take while technically still in high school, or some may not like that you have received an actual degree from another college.
Your research may prove that you are fine with getting an Associates degree, but it would be better to know ahead of time what each college’s rules are.
I can say my d applied to both public and private colleges with 30 college credit hours plus five or six AP’s and was accepted as a freshman student to all schools. She is at GT now.
I would follow the “gen ed” curriculum described in #14. Since earning an Associate’s may be a problem and bears no advantage, don’t focus on that.
Here are some examples of 4-year plans at the universities you listed - see what classes are required for the first and second years:
http://www.ua.edu/majors/psychology.html
http://appl101.lsu.edu/stu%5CRecmndPath.nsf/Preview/AB28C4E0B6AB92C4862579C90068A303?EditDocument
http://www.ua.edu/majors/socialwork.html
http://ssw.uga.edu/pdf/academics/bsw/BSW_Program_Requirements_&_Sequencing.pdf
http://www.socialwork.lsu.edu/html/academicprograms/bs-child-family-studies.html
Check with your HS how many CC classes you can be dual enrolled in - 4 is likely enough, 5 is a full load.
Check graduation requirements to make sure you leave one for Spring semester Senior year 
What state do you live in?
Have you tried the SAT or ACT and are you hoping to earn one of the great full tuition scholarships at the state universities you listed?
Are you lower -income (which, for very selective colleges that meet 100%, means 65K/year, which is strictly speaking middle class but…) If so, these colleges would provide you with at least full tuition but sometimes a full ride if admitted:
http://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/colleges-that-meet-100-of-student-financial-need/#sthash.jaZ28qc8.dpbs
(College Greenlight is a website for students whose parents didn’t graduate from a 4-year college and contains lots of useful information). If you’re first gen, you can also check out I’m First.