[Not sure where to put this topic but I’m guessing this is the right place?]
am going to do my senior year of high school at my local community college in hopes of getting my AA along with my high school diploma. I want to get a head start on college while also getting out of high school, which has been a miserable experience for me. The structure of high school is most definitely not for me, and I surely prefer dual enrollment classes over AP. Does anyone who did early admission/collegiate academy have any tips for me? I’m especially unsure about how I should budget my future given that I plan to go to a four-year university and if I enter with me AA I would probably only spend 2-3 years there. Also, how to make early admissions seem attractive to college adcoms and on scholarship apps (especially National Merit, since if I become an NMF I can get a full ride to the university I want to go to).
I’m a little confused, because one year of CC is not going to result in an Associates degree. More likely, you’ll have a year’s worth of credit (maybe a little more, if you have some AP credits).
Anyway, even if you have a ton of credit, you can take as long (or as short) as you want at your eventual 4-year school. Often the nice thing about dual-enrollment or AP credits is that it allows you to take a lighter load when you get to university, which is particularly useful if you will also be working. It is not clear to me if you’re wanting to accelerate this process or not, but either way works.
All of that said, it’s up to you to explain why you chose this route and explain why it demonstrates that you’re a committed, motivated student. Some of this depends on the CC you attend – some are harder than others, and plenty of adcoms know that some CCs are actually less rigorous than an AP class at your high school – and some of this depends on how you frame your decision when you tell them about it. If the local CC is the only option available to you (say, you live somewhere without other colleges), it’s easier to talk it up. If your high school doesn’t offer APs, or if they offer a few and you’ve already taken all of them, that makes it easier to talk up, too. (At my kid’s school, they have a Career Academy which partners with the local CC. But we also have a local flagship university. Anyone can do Career Academy, pretty much, but you have to apply and be accepted to dual-enroll at the local uni. The latter is obviously seen as more prestigious and rigorous, for obvious reasons. My kid felt it both boosted his college apps and is helping prepare him for the increased workload/expectations at the university level.)
If you’re likely to be an NMF and there are any better colleges local to you that you could attend as a dual-enrollment student, instead, that’s going to look a lot better on your resume headed into admissions and scholarships. But if CC is your only option, you just need to be very clear about that and paint is as a decision that resulted from your own drive to do more. Good luck!
Perhaps I should’ve elaborated - I’ve already taken several dual enrollment and AP classes, and with my summer courses, I’ll be able to get my AA.
Unfortunately, my community college is the only one that offers non-vocational early admission or dual enrollment. If I took more courses - 16 or more credit hours as opposed to the minimum 12 - maybe that would help? Also, which would look better: continue to participate in high school extracurriculars, probably with decreases involvement just because of scheduling constraints, maybe with an officer position; or getting a job?
Ah, ok. I think it depends on where you’re looking to go to school and what you want to study (re: ECs vs. job). Do you have a guidance counselor at the high school? They may be able to give you a better sense of what particular schools/programs are seeking.
True, it would depend on the university. I’m tentatively planning to go to FSU and major in maths. And yeah, I want to ask my guidance counselor but I’m kind of afraid they’ll talk me out of early admitting or give me wrong info because guidance at my school is notorious for doing that 