<p>My son was admitted to the Middle college program
He is in very good public school
What are advantages and disadvantages of Middle college vs high school?</p>
<p>I don’t know if middle college is the same everywhere, but in Ann Arbor it’s a thing at the local community college where you simultaneously get an associates degree and a high school diploma, is that what you’re talking about?</p>
<p>There’s definite advantages of the middle college, he’ll get many credits that can be transferred to university, and will be more prepared for a college environment. </p>
<p>Disadvantage is that many scholarships are reserved for freshmen only and with an AA degree your child may not qualify.</p>
<p>Our district had a middle college for a time.
One of D’s friends transferred from their prep school to the middle college program and was able to accumulate enough requirements for UChicago when he was barely 17 to enter as a junior.
Yet he did not receive a high school diploma because he had not met state requirements for graduation.</p>
<p>It depends on how advanced the student is, in terms of how ready he is to take college courses while in high school. For some students, being able to take college courses while in high school is helpful in not running out of courses in high school, but other students may academically fit better in regular high school courses up to AP level. Of course, the actual offerings in each program matter when assessing which is better for the given student.</p>
<p>It depends on the community college and the high school. Some community colleges are not more challenging than high schools. If you’re looking at it as a way to decrease time to get a bachelor’s degree, not all schools will accept community college credits that also counted towards high school graduation. </p>
<p>Is the middle college through a CC or a University? We have both - at the CC, the kids can earn an AA or just take courses at the community college level, at the University they take college classes and earn (usually) transferable credits.</p>
<p>We looked at a University middle college for S (the only option in our county), but were concerned about the social aspect. If kids wanted to participate in school sports, they had to do so through their zoned HS (where S would not know anyone, having gone to Catholic elementary and middle school). No homecoming, no Prom, and the schedules were such - especially as juniors and seniors - where you wouldn’t see your peers much as you were scattered in all different undergrad classes. We’ve seen some kids from other University middle colleges (at speech and debate contests), and I’ve been very impressed by them, but for S it wasn’t the right choice.</p>
<p>Definitely ask about transferability of credits. In my state, if you take classes at a CC, it is guaranteed to transfer to a state U, but whether a private school, or an out of state school, would accept them is open to question. Even if it’s a university school, unless your child goes on to that U, it will be up to whatever school they attend whether or not to accept the credits and how to apply them.</p>
<p>You need to describe what you mean by middle college. Different programs lead to different results.
In our case Middle College students are still considered HS students so when they apply for college ithey are still considered freshman and eligible for all merit aid. At the end of the program they received a HS diploma but also had community college units. Every college she was admitted to took her credits. Granted she wasn’t applying to Ivy level schools. In my daughter’s case those units ended up transferring and it helped her get a better registration time. </p>
<p>Yeah, tell us more about what you mean. </p>
<p>If it is doing CC in high school, I think the biggest differences will be social. Does your child want to play sports? Be in the band? Participate in debate or some other high school-based activity? Would he lose that opportunity in the program? Will he be able to make friends in the program? Or will his classmates all be older, or perhaps not have much in common with him?</p>
<p>If your child has plenty of friends outside of school, or if he has a great passion that is not served by school, maybe it is an option. If your high school is quite good and your child is active there, leave him be. </p>
<p>he has three AP classes in school
Does middle college classes really substitute AP classes? Are they more advanced? comparable?
I am speaking about this <a href=“http://www.fuhsd.org/MIDDLEcollege”>http://www.fuhsd.org/MIDDLEcollege</a> vs Monta Vista high school Cupertino</p>
<p>De Anza College, like other community colleges, offers courses which are remedial level (i.e. high school level from a college viewpoint), frosh level (which high school AP courses try to emulate), and sophomore level (more advanced than what high school AP courses try to emulate).</p>
<p>Examples (note: De Anza College is on the quarter system with three quarters in an academic year, with the fourth quarter being the summer session):</p>
<p>Remedial level: Math 41-42-43 (Precalculus 1-2-3) (equivalent to high school precalculus course)
Frosh level: Math 1A-1B-1C (Calculus 1-2-3) (note: AP calculus AB = Math 1A; AP calculus BC = Math 1A-1B)
Sophomore level: Math 1D (Calculus 4), 2A (Differential Equations), 2B (Linear Algebra)</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://nebula.deanza.edu/PSME_Division/Math_Placement_2_2.html”>http://nebula.deanza.edu/PSME_Division/Math_Placement_2_2.html</a> .</p>
<p>Many of the courses are transferable with subject credit to UCs and CSUs as listed at <a href=“http://www.assist.org”>http://www.assist.org</a> .</p>
<p>However, private schools often do not want to give credit units for college courses taken while in high school. You may have to investigate whether they will even give placement or subject credit (e.g. if you complete Math 1A-1B-1C-1D-2A-2B at De Anza College while in high school, will a private college accept that you have fulfilled calculus, multivariable calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra for majors that ordinarily require those courses?).</p>
<p>UCs and CSUs only disqualify students from applying as frosh if they take college courses after the summer immediately after high school graduation, so taking college courses while still in high school does not force the student to become a transfer applicant.</p>
<p>If the student is pre-med or pre-law, grades earned in college courses taken while in high school will be included in GPA for medical and law school applications.</p>
<p>does admission commissions of med schools would consider classes taken in a middle college as advantage for student
there is no AP biology class in De Anza
is it a big problem if he applied to a med school that he will not have AP biology class in his transcript</p>
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<p>If the grades earned in college courses (including while in high school) are A or A+, then it is advantageous to the student. If the grades earned are B+ or lower, then it is disadvantageous to the student.</p>
<p>However, students who take pre-med required courses at community colleges are usually recommended to take some advanced courses in those subjects at a four year school, as some medical schools have blanket disdain for community colleges.</p>
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<p>AP designates advanced high school courses following a specific syllabus that attempts to emulate a college course; there is no need for an actual college course to be labeled AP.</p>
<p>De Anza’s Biology 6A-6B-6C would be the general biology sequence for biology majors and pre-meds.
<a href=“Biology”>https://www.deanza.edu/biology/courses.html</a>
<a href=“http://web1.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=18&swap=1&dir=1&sia=DAC&ria=UCB&ia=DAC&oia=UCB&aay=13-14&ay=13-14&dora=BIOLOGY”>http://web1.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=18&swap=1&dir=1&sia=DAC&ria=UCB&ia=DAC&oia=UCB&aay=13-14&ay=13-14&dora=BIOLOGY</a></p>
<p>Like all things, depends on the program, depends on the kid. Middle college has been fantastic for my eldest. In her case, it’s just for juniors and seniors. She takes two high school honors level English and Social Studies in the high school room on the community college campus with high school teacher. She completes an internship in the community each semester. Everything else is taken at the community college for dual credit in college classes with college students and college instructors. They are still held to high school requirements (which are UC requirements in our area) but they don’t have to take high school level classes to fulfill them. Her program is part of a highly ranked community college. 150 kids applied for 40 spots in the middle college. It’s not a program designed to get kids an AA though there are some that do it on their own. </p>
<p>My D liked the pacing. She liked the independent learning and the extra time she was afforded by being on a college schedule. She liked the diverse offerings. She liked being able to schedule around business hour internships and EC’s. Some classes pushed her. Some classes didn’t. The classes that didn’t weren’t a surprise but they were interesting enough and over in 16 weeks.</p>
<p>Kids in her high school class got into good colleges… all the UC’s including Berkeley, Cal Poly, Bowdoin, Claremont Mckenna, Pitzer, Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, U Richmond, NYU, Oberlin, Boston U to name a few. Every college my D applied to specifically stated that despite dual enrollment, she was to apply as a freshman and was given freshman aid and scholarship like anyone else. Many choose to stay instate and use their credits to their fullest. Others, like mine, wanted middle college for the challenge and atmosphere during high school not because they wanted to shorten university time. We don’t yet know how many of D’s classes that her private college will accept. She’d love for them to take her languages and get out of that requirement, but everything else she’d have no problem letting go of. </p>
<p>It’s not for all kids. Some kids need a bit more hand-holding and that is perfectly normal and OK. Middle college kids need to have already developed good study skills and self-control as an entire grade may hinge on 2 tests and a 10 page paper… no daily assigned homework or participation scores to buffer a grade. They need to know how to learn material without being directed in how to learn it. Kids who really want a “high school experience” will not be happy. D’s school offers a taste. They have a classroom and daily connection. They have a prom and a graduation ceremony but it’s not like a traditional school. </p>
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<p>For private colleges that won’t grant credit units for college courses taken while in high school, it may be important to find out how they handle placement and subject credit. For foreign languages, it is more likely that if she shows up speaking and writing the language at a non-beginner level, she can be placed into a higher level course (and possibly waived of the requirement if the placement is higher than the requirement). But the policies for other subjects may differ, and it would be annoying to have to retake course work in what she already knows instead of having a free elective space in the schedule to take something else that the college offers. However, if there is question on taking more advanced courses in the subject, it would be a good idea to try the college’s old final exams before skipping an introductory courses.</p>