<p>How does taking classes at a nearby university or community college look to a college admissions officer? Is is a good thing? Or could it possibly be a bad thing? Or does it do nothing?</p>
<p>It shows that you care a lot about your education, so it is definitely good. The only way it could POSSIBLY hurt you is if you get bad grades in the classes, thus showing that you can’t do college level work.</p>
<p>What looks better, taking classes at a nearby university, I could take classes at WashU, or taking classes at a local community college? The community college is cheaper and more convenient, and would it give me more of a chance to impress the professors and possibly secure outstanding recommendations?</p>
<p>Or would I want to mix the two?</p>
<p>I would go with community college. I considered classes through WUSTL, too. However, it’s far too expensive.</p>
<p>Which looks better, though?</p>
<p>Taking classes at a local university might look SLIGHTLY better. But it would make a lot more sense to take the class at a community college and then buy a bunch of test prep material with the money you saved. It’s just not going to be a significant difference.</p>
<p>bethany, there is a big difference between WashU and the St. Louis area community colleges. An in-between option would be UMSL, if that would work for you.</p>
<p>Taking classes at local uni/community colleges are always a plus when applying for college, unless you got a bad grade.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend taking classes at the community college as opposed to a university. The classes are cheaper, and you can still get awesome reccomendations by your professors.</p>
<p>I understand that there is a huge difference between the two programs, but is the difference as huge on a college application?</p>
<p>When I visited UChicago, I was told that one should not take a community college class when one could take an AP class at school, because, quite simply, an AP class at a good HS is most likely going to be filled with students of greater intellect and interest than most community college classes are. But if you’re taking a class that you cannot take at your HS, it’s definitely a plus. And if you’re taking a class at WUStL or some other good uni, it’ll probably be better than, or at least equal to, what you would get in an AP class.</p>
<p>My high school doesn’t offer that many AP courses, and even then, you are limited as to how many you are allowed to take. My question is, do the benefits of taking classes at a local university (WashU) outweigh the negatives–less likely to secure extremely strong recommendations from the professor, cost, etc?</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>If your HS doesn’t offer many AP classes and/or limits how many you can take, then a class at a local college or university is definitely a good idea. It shows academic motivation and gives you an opportunity to show that you’re capable of doing high quality academic work at the college level. For that reason, I’d avoid community colleges, unless the community colleges in your area are unusually strong and you know of particular courses and instructors who will do a good job. There are many fine, hard-working, capable people teaching in community colleges, but they tend to be extremely thin on resources and frankly the quality of instruction tends to be pretty mixed. Also, many of the students (not all certainly) are donig work at a level that would be considered remedial in most top colleges and universities. So doing well in a community college course isn’t likely to impress adcoms as much as doing well in an AP class in your HS, whereas doing well in a course taken at a stronger college or university (like Wash U) will be more impressive. You’re taking on a certain risk, though, insofar as you’ve got to do well to have it help you; otherwise, it might hurt you. As to whether it’s worthwhile financially, no one can answer that for you; it depends on how much money you (or more likely your parents) have & are willing to spend.</p>