I am a Junior in High School and I’m not sure whether to take Dual Enrollment or AP classes my Senior year. My counselor has said that if I decided to take my classes dual then I could graduate with about 30 college hours. However, I plan to go out of state for college. ( I live in Texas and I’m looking into schools on the East Coast) I know I’m not going to get any financial aid because of how much my dad makes annually so I’m not to worried about exceeding my hours. But I do want to take advantage of the hours because I have a twin sister who will also be going to college at the same time as I do. I know I could always take AP classes to get the credit but my school does have a good record when it comes to kids passing the AP tests. (for example: Last year it was only one other girl and I who passed the World History exam out of about 150 testers)
Does any one have any advice on what I should do?
If you’re going out of state, do AP. OOS colleges have no idea what a 90 in Physics 1 at a Texas college means, but they can somewhat surmise what it takes to get an A in AP Physics 1. If you do decide to stay in state, DE would be excellent; it’s a great way to get a head start on college without taking exams and is generally viewed as being equivalent to AP/IB in the same state in which the college classes are taken.
If there is still possibility that you will attend a Texas public, consider how each option affects your class rank.
My daughter is a senior and applied to colleges in 4 states - both public and private schools located out of state and they all said they would absolutely accept her dual enrollment classes providing they have a matching class to give credit for - for instance microeconomics is a common class and matches up with most microeconomics at other colleges but a class such as history of snowstorms then most likely no credit. They are all East Coast schools. They are not top 20 schools though.
If you take dual enrollment print and save all your syllabi which may be requested when it is time to register for classes at your accepted college. Some colleges have a way of checking which classes will transfer from school to school right on their website often found under transfer section. Providing you don’t take a single class after high school graduation you still start as a freshman in college (with advanced standing in terms of credits) and eligible for merit awards.
Dual Enrollment
@momtogirls2 Thanks so much. I’ve been leaning towards DE a bit more because now my school requires for us to pay for each AP exam ( $15 if you are taking the class and $30 for challenging). This is doubled because I have a twin sister taking the same tests. I think my parents had to pay about $120 for all of our tests out of pocket.
@OkayKayla055 you’re so lucky. In my state (GA) and county we get one exam free with a 10 registration fee, but pay $94 for each exam. My mom has to pay $500+ dollars for exams
$15 per test is dirt cheap. Its like $100 here.
Do keep in mind that your DE classes grades can count for your college GPA…so make sure you do well in them.
@OkayKayla055 - if you opt for dual enrollment will you have to pay for books or transportation?
It depends on your district.
The dual enrollment classes are offered at my high school campus. There is no cost other than your usual school supplies. Down here everything is mainly payed for. We get free school breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also get 2 fee waivers for the SAT, ACT, and SAT subject tests. Along with 4 fee waivers for college applications. Because I live in the most uneducated region in the United States as well as a very low income region, they try to pay for as many things for our education. They don’t money to be the reason we don’t take advantage of our options.
Only half of the kids who actually graduate from my school district go on to college. For example my mom was the 1st in her entire family to get her Bachelor’s degree. No one on my dad’s side went to college. I believe there less than 10 people that have a degree including my extended family. My goal is to be the first and only person on both sides of my family to have earned a doctorates degree.
Dual enrollment is great, but only if it will be accepted by the university you go to after high school. I graduated with 70 hours of dual credit from an early college high school in Texas and went to college in state. It got me out of repeating the core and gave me the wiggle room to volunteer, research, change my major, and study abroad. That said, by senior year I was very very aware that most schools outside of Texas and nearly all private should would not transfer and apply most of that credit.
If it’s free, it doesn’t hurt, but AP is definitely more prestigious and having 30-45 of core credit to complete at university will boost your GPA. I’ve only taken courses in my major(s) and I honestly think my GPA would be closer to a 3.8 than my 3.6 if I had had even 15 hours of core credit to complete. GPA from dual enrollment doesn’t really tend to follow you.
The point of dual enrollment isn’t necessarily to get credit. In this case, it sounds like the AP classes are not taught at AP level since only 2/150 students passed. So, dual enrollment may be a more rigorous option than AP. In addition, and most importantly, if taught the way a college class is taught for real - with a MWF or TTh schedule, a semester syllabus with no extra credit and few grades, office jours - or will teach you the skills to handle college.
How much does your dad make?
If 65k or less, apply to Questbridge summer scholars if you haven’t already.
Run the NPC on Vassar, Yale, Colby, Davidson. Don’t forget to enter ‘2 in college’ - meet need colleges do take this into account. With a twin, you’d get a near full ride at the above even if your dad makes 100k. A full tuition might be possible even if he makes 200k because those colleges have ‘super aid’. However if your dad makes more than 250k you would need to focus on merit scholarships, ie., your test scores are top 25% for the college considered or you meet specific benchmarks (look at Miami Ohio, UMW, UAlabama.)
Have a discussion with your parents: how much can they pay, each month, then per year, out of strictly income and savings, for both you and your twin? Divide that in two, add whatever savings you have from your job, 5.5k on federal loans, and that’s the number you want to see under ‘net cost’ on the NPC.
Get a Fiske guide from the library (any edition 2013+ is fine) and read up on a dozen colleges you hadn’t heard of.
Demonstrate interest at all these colleges by filling out the ‘requedt info’ form.
What subject tests are you taking in June?
Are you receiving test prep lessons and using Khan academy?
If you are planning to attend college outside of Texas, you should definitely take AP. Most colleges outside Texas won’t accept Dual Credit, but they do recognize AP. AP exams are hard, but if you passed your World History exam, you should be okay and you do not have to report your scores. Only take Dual Credit if your school does not offer APs. You do not have to report your scores.
http://kwbu.org/post/dual-credit-may-equalize-path-college-some-question-academic-standards#stream/0
I have been doing a lot of outside study for my AP classes to pass with a score high enough to get credit for. My dad makes about 100k per year. So my parents make about $150,000 together. Do you know of any other schools that offer “super aid”?
^Many colleges don’t give credit for AP classes, especially when they’re considered the basic default preparation for all students who were admitted. Top colleges want to see AP/DE/IB classes because they represent academic rigor and the ability to handle a top college’s rigorous academics.
How many are you (mom, dad, you, + any siblings) in your family?
Colleges that are especially generous tend to be HYPSM, Pomona and other top LACS.
You’ll also get a boost for coming from a disadvantaged area.
There is also the option of matching the AP exam with the dual enrollment classes if necessary.