Which one will look more appealing to colleges? I’m thinking of taking AP Psychology next year, but feel like Dual Enrollment will guarantee credit, unlike AP (don’t need to take an AP exam).
What are your experiences with Dual Enrollment??
Dual enrollment is, at least at the schools I know about, considered more impressive because it is not taken at the school and is a legitimate college class as opposed to a high school’s attempt to mimic a college class.
I encourage you to check out the colleges that you are actually interested in applying to, and find out what THEY think about DE vs. AP. Each school will have their own opinion, and will calculcate GPA differently based on their views.
Our D chose DE and got free college tuition in our state, a full year of hs credit for each semester college course, and her college credits were more automatic (assuming she made the effort to get good grades) and didn’t have the stress of a bunch of AP exams in May.
Both are great paths to scoring college credits. AP courses are conveniently taught at your own hs, while getting onto a college campus and experiencing college classes alongside regular college kids has benefits as well.
I’m a big fan of Dual Enrollment. As you correctly pointed out, their is less risk involve when you compare both. If you get a C and above, those credits are transferable to a 4-year University, while getting a 2 or lower (some Universities will not accept anything below a 4) will not earn you any college credits. Also, some AP courses will not be acceptable as prerequisites for a number of Graduate Courses/Programs (example, Statistics). My son did over 45 Dual Enrollment Credits while in High School and all credits were transferable to a Private University and he will complete his Undergraduate Degree in two years (with 2 Summer Sessions).
You need to check with both the college and the department. D plans to attend OU and they are very generous with accepting credits for ‘class standing’ but the meteorology department will only allow her to apply a total of 32 ‘advance standing’ credits (AP, CLEP, IB) toward her degree but will allow up to 64 transfer credits - with no more than 32 being from advance standing credits. I am so glad we found this out before her senior year of high school so she can balance out her AP credits with DE credits! The engineering department at the same college will accept unlimited advance standing credits.
I don’t really see much of a difference between DE and AP personally however the above posters point out some great advantages to DE. Depending on what you want to DE, I would go that route.
You do need to check the school you are going to apply/attend. DE does look a little bit better as it is at the same pace as college (it is in a college) while AP is usually at a slower pace (except a few like Calc BC). You also do not need to pay extra for exam in order to get the credit. Nevertheless, some schools may not accept the DE credit from certain college particularly those taught at a high school. While AP has more universal acceptance although the credit and score requirement would vary.
Billcsho makes a good point about paying extra, depending on the school you may have to pay extra for AP credits. At UT Austin not only do you have to pay $90 for each exam in high school, you have to pay an extra $6 a credit hour for the credits you claim and if you are claiming an AM GOV AP you have to take an extra test at UT to prove you know TX GOV too, the same thing applies to transfer credit. You need both AM GOV and TX GOV at the same school for the credit. Transfer credit, both DE and AP, varies from school to school and department to department so do your homework!
I would actually rule in favor of AP, but it really depends on your goals.
If you are looking at in-state, public colleges, DE would be be the better option, because as long as you pass the class, you can most likely get credit. If you are interested in out-of-state and/or private colleges however, I would definitely take AP. Many schools do not trust DE credit because the content and rigor of the classes is a complete unknown, versus with AP classes, where colleges know what a certain score means. It is not actually as hard as you might think to do well on an AP exam, as long as you study.
I disagree with the idea that colleges see DE as more impressive. AP classes are taken by the very top students at the high school, many of whom have high expectations for themselves. DE is often done at a community college or the like, and the students there are often either less motivate
If DC is offered by a HS teacher at your HS, then does it make a difference to you which teacher you get? In other words, is either the AP or the DC teacher considerable better? That might help you make up your mind. FWIW, my kids all said the AP Psych test is super easy to get a 5 (it is a 1 semester class at our HS and they took the class 2nd semester, so that means they took the AP test before the semester was complete).
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses!
And to @Barfly, I’m assuming DC is Dual Enrollment, and I know nothing about the professor I will get. However, as for the AP teacher, I’ve heard mixed comments about her, and a rumor that she might structure it like a regular HS Psychology class. Will check up on this, but I’m still kind of skeptical at this point.
With dual enrollment or other college courses taken while in high school, you can also take the AP test for double coverage. You will not get double credit, but (if you get a good AP score) you will get credit or placement at colleges that take one but not the other.
Based on your user name, you may be a potential pre-med. Be aware that all college courses count when assessing pre-med requirements and calculating pre-med GPA. This includes college courses taken during high school. On the other hand, AP scores count for neither pre-med course requirements nor pre-med GPA at most medical schools. Psychology is becoming more common as a pre-med course requirement, so taking it as a college course during high school can be helpful (one less pre-med course requirement to worry about when you are actually in college), but you better get an A or A+ grade in it if you want it to help your pre-med GPA (a B+ or lower grade will be harmful to your pre-med GPA).
@ucbalumnus Thanks for responding. Yes, I am planning to undertake a pre-med track while majoring in Biochem. And that’s an excellent idea (taking the AP exam for double coverage). I was thinking of doing that, but thought it would be a bit risky.
Anyways, its kind of unfortunate that it counts towards my college GPA, so I’m leaning more towards AP. As @Barfly mentioned, it seems to be an easy exam, so I think I’ll be fine.
Lots of people must do dual enrollment differently than at my high school. The classes weren’t that much harder than a normal high school class (definitely weren’t college-paced) and were taught at my school. For me, at least, DE was a lot less work.
At our HS, a lot of classes are both AP and DC (Dual Credit), so they have the requirements of AP courses as well as the requirements set forth by the local college giving the credit, so that makes them quite challenging. I think it does vary quite a lot from HS to HS, though, as @bodangles suggests, because the credits are coming from different colleges.
However, in the case you take the AP psychology course and test without dual enrollment or college credit, if a medical school requires a psychology course as part of the pre-med requirements, and does not accept an AP score for that, you would need to take a psychology course in college (though a higher level psychology course may be an option if your undergraduate college accepts an AP score in lieu of the introductory course).
My advice to you is to look at the colleges you want to apply to. Some schools have different policies on whether or not they will accept a DE credit. Some schools make you take it on an actual college campus or online through a college. Just because a professor teaches it at your HS doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to transfer (ex: some private colleges do not allow this). It all depends. I like DE better because no exam fee, you get classes out of the way (your GE ones), and no stressing over an exam. A balance between AP and DE is also a safe bet. You have a little of each.
That’s why many universities would not consider those DE credits if taught at a high school.
@billcsho PSU accepted them, in my case–Calc 1 and Stats from Pitt, and a Spanish class from La Roche. So it worked out. I wasn’t aware that anybody wouldn’t accept them, kinda sucks for us if that’s the case. D:
@bodangles For example, UMich is very picky with DE credits. There is a girl I know from CA with ~60 such credits but has to start from ground zero there.