Hi! I am in a dual-enrollment program at a local state college, but underneath the private school that I go to (I still actually go to the college campus, its not taught at my HS). Im a junior in HS, and I just started taking all college classes this year and was wondering if dual-enrollment would be considered the same in the eyes of admissions people as AP/IB. My school didn’t offer many AP’s, so I went to dual-enroll at the local state college (not community). I think that it is just as rigorous if not a bit more than AP/IB to me because it’s not a community college it’s a state college, but what do you think?
Actually dual-enrollment might even look as more rigorous than AP except for something like AP calc BC.
The reason I am saying this is because a college class is only 1 semester long and meets only a couple times a week. While an AP class is spread over 2 semesters and meets everyday. So college classes are way more fast paced and independent.
It depends on the college you apply to, the college you take the courses at, and what level of courses you take.
Note that many college courses cover material faster than high school AP courses. For example, college courses in calculus, statistics, psychology, etc. cover in a semester what high school AP courses in calculus AB, statistics, and psychology cover in a year.
The level of courses matters. If you are taking college courses while in high school because you want to take more advanced courses than the AP / college frosh level (e.g. multivariable calculus), then that looks more favorable than taking college frosh courses (e.g. calculus), or remedial college courses covering high school level material (e.g. precalculus math, remedial English composition).
A four year school is not necessarily more rigorous than a community college. In some cases, the community college may be more rigorous, if it aims to prepare students to transfer to the state flagship, while the four year school happens to be the least selective one in the state and designs its courses for weaker college students.
@ucbalumnus I’m looking to apply to colleges like Boston College, Northeastern, UF, Wake Forest, UNC, UVA, UM, UCLA,Duke, USC, Stanford and a couple of others
You can check the transfer credit page at each school to see what they like.
@ucbalumnus im not getting my full AA degree, I am applying as a freshman student to colleges… (I am a junior in HS)
@ucbalumnus I am just wondering if it will look as good/ challenging as AP/Ib because I personally think it is since I see my friends doing AP, and mine seems a little more rigorous even because its only a semester long and more self-discipline is required along with time-management skills and such
Even as a frosh, college courses taken while in high school may transfer for credit and placement, depending on the college you attend. So you may want to check on that.
Being in a dual enrollment program at a full 4-year university should make transferring credits easier than from a community college, but everything is still totally up to the school you end up attending. Every school can determine its own policies for what it will accept, and those policies can even vary by department. You really need to look at each school you apply to and what their policies are, and what the individual departmental policies are. STEM majors in particular can be extremely picky as to what credits they will accept, as they want to ensure all students have the same foundational skills. Some schools will even require submission of the course syllabus before they will consider granting credit and allowing placement directly into a higher level course.
Bear in mind that every university doesn’t even guarantee accepting AP/IB credit. Each school sets a threshold for the minimum score required, and also for whether a particular course is accepted depending on major.
@InigoMontoya I am not worried about transferring credits as much, if not at all. What I am truly concerned about is whether it will look as impressive, if not more impressive than AP/IB. I am mainly taking college courses because I wanted to challenge myself, while preparing for the college I will be going to, and still being able to tailor my schedule somewhat more based on what I am interested in/ passionate about.
At the Emory open house, someone posed this exact question to a panel of admissions officers. Their answer was, “Yes, we appreciate that you took dual enrollment, but we tend to look at IB/AP classes more favorably because there is a standard curriculum, whereas college courses can differ widely from college to college. If you have a choice between AP/IB or dual credit, we would prefer you choose AP/IB. However, if AP/IB courses are not offered at your school or you have exhausted the AP/IB courses at your school, taking dual enrollment classes is considered very rigorous in context of your high school”.
I don’t know if this holds true to everywhere, but this is what the panel told the student.
@anxiousenior1 ok, thanks!
@anxiousenior1 yeah, there were only two AP classes offered at my school for junior year, so I decided to switch before junior year so i could take a more rigorous course load and be able to actually experience the college classes…
Out of curiosity, was there no way for you to take both AP classes and do college courses?
This is not always true. Some state universities (e.g. in California) have extensive articulation agreements with same state community colleges, but much less so for any four year schools.
On the other hand, colleges and universities in areas where community colleges are generally limited in transfer preparatory academics may have a worse view of community college courses.
Yes, a taste of true college courses (as opposed to college frosh level material in high school AP courses) can give you an idea of what college courses will be like before you dive completely in when you go to college full time. College courses require better time management and self motivation, with less hand holding and progress monitoring than in high school.
Maybe you should take the AP exams for the courses that you are taking. . .
@anxiousenior1 no, thats why i switched schools kinda, so I could take more “rigorous” courses, because my school only offered 2 AP classes junior year
I see. Perhaps you should write a quick explanation in your “Other information” section when the time comes.
@ucbalumnus yes, so do you think the schools i listed above would look upon my dual-enrollment classes favorably? I am not really worried about my credits transferring as much as I am worried that it will look as good as if I took AP/IB…
@anxiousenior1 ok, thanks!