Okay, so I am a high school junior, and I keep getting conflicted about my classes. So, basically, I have missed the opportunity to take like 3 APs due to scheduling conflicts ( had to choose AP french over AP psych sophomore year, ap bio and ap euro are only offered in a period I can’t switch out of). Due to my school being on block schedule, it would make no sense to take these AP classes senior year, because I would be taking them second semester, when my college apps would be done already, and I planned on going full dual-enrollment senior year. So my question is, will taking the dual-enrollment equivalency of these classes be fine?
AP Bio - Gen bio
Ap Euro - Ancient/ Modern Western Civilization (two classes)
AP Psych - Gen psych (already took it)
I’ve always read that colleges see dual enrollment classes as “easier” than APs, and I don’t want it to look like I was trying to avoid the AP classes, it’s just that I genuinely can’t fit them into my schedule.
The thing with AP classes is that colleges know what AP Bio is and what a student with a 5 or 4 on the AP test is capable of. For dual enrollment, every college is different.
If doesn’t matter if you take AP Bio second semester, for all seniors, you could be taking classes after you are accepted. They want to see your class plan. They don’t take your AP test scores into account any way. I would take AP Bio if possible. Gen Psych would be fine or AP psych.
There’s also the problem of regional variation. Here in CA, the community colleges are known to be quite good, with guaranteed transfer arrangements, for student and for classes, with a variety of UCs, CSUs and some private schools (e.g. Pomona). Out here, DE is seen as quite rigorous, on par with AP.
In other states, the quality / perception of quality varies widely.
You should also give some thought to where you’d like to go to college, and how important the transfer credit is. In general, publics and lower-to mid-ranked universities will accept many / all of your DE credits but private schools and top-ranked universities may not. You will need to check each school individually, and each course individually. You’ll typically have the best luck with courses that fill core or general ed. requirements.
Example: My son’s two safeties, University of New Mexico and Texas Tech, accept all of his 30+ hours of DE classes. Tulane accepts some but not all, and the Ivies we considered accept none.
What I’ve experienced is that in-state colleges generally don’t favor DE or AP over one another, but AP is basically always favored when traveling out of state. This is due to what bopper said; a college in Alabama knows exactly what a 4 on the AP Physics 1 exam entails, but has no idea what a student had to do to earn a B+ in General Physics 1 at a college in Utah.
@bopper @DiotimaDM @r2v2018 Thank you all for your input! Kinda sucks that DE is so enforced at my school, because it makes it harder for students like me who want to go out of state and apply for more prestigious colleges. There are barely any APs at my school to begin with, and the majority are for freshmen and sophomores, besides like one (AP bio). Maybe I can find a way to make my DE classes strengthen my college app for the more prestigious universities that I might apply to. Thank you again!