I am a current senior and my high school does a 4x4 block schedule. First semester my classes are only honors and one elective while my second semester is 3 AP’s and one honors. If I go through with my planned schedule I will have completed the hardest course rigor offered by my school. If I apply early will colleges see that I am planning to take the hardest classes in my second semester? Also, should I dual enroll (just for one or two classes) at a local community college (poorly ranked) for the sake of variety and experience, or stick with all AP? Would replacing AP Literature with a literature course at a local college seem weaker? I want to get a feel for college even though I know the one near me doesn’t really compare to major universities, I am also slightly afraid of how hard my AP Lit class may be.
You could replace one AP course with a dual enrollment class, or even one of your honors Fall classes.
You have to list your classes for each semester on the SRAR or self repeated list of classes. If you change, you have to report it in the Spring.
If you’re taking the most rigorous courses, your guidance counselor will indicate this on the secondary school report that he/she submits to the colleges you’re applying to. As for the dual enrollment, if you’re looking to take more rigorous courses, I would look into replacing one of the honors classes (as stated above) with a DE course rather than an AP. (But even if you do replace an AP with a DE course, I don’t think it would “count against you”, per se, in admissions, as both are considered rigorous courses).
IMO, stick with your AP courses at your high school. You will self report your classes for second semester on the common app so colleges will see what’s to come. If you’ve taken the most course rigor available to you, that’s all colleges want. If you were genuinely interested in a specific DE course at the CC, that’s a different story but it’s not necessary for college admission.
I think there’s value in testing the way college courses ‘work’ through a dual enrollment class. Autonomy, time management, using office hours are all skills many freshmen struggle with, so there’s no harm in ‘practicing’ senior year. 