<p>I am currently a dual-enrollment student taking 3 college courses at the Northern Virginia Community College while still in high school. I was planning to finish the 12 credits in progress now and take another 12 in the summer in order to apply as a transfer student for the spring semester of 2012. I was advised that this would be a better, more effective way of getting into UVA, considering the fact that they would be able to consider my established track record in college (4.0 unweighted gpa) as well as my high school stats. Unfortunately, I have now learned that UVA doesn't recognize credits that were finished while the applicant was still in high school ON TRANSFER APPLICATIONS. They are fine on regular decision apps just not on transfer ones. Also, if I had graduated high school early and taken the classes at the same time as i am now, they would be accepted. I don't understand why the fact that I am still in high school should give them the right to disregard my credits. Can anyone explain this to me?</p>
<p>I looked briefly at your other posts, to ascertain if you were a senior, and you are. However, I am confused because on one post you mention you have applied to UVA. So, did you already apply as a regular freshman or not?<br>
My understanding of transfer application process is that a student needs to already have a HS diploma (or GED), so in some ways your concerns are moot; you are ineligible to apply as a transfer student without a high school diploma.<br>
However, if you haven’t applied as a regular freshman, and are wanting to apply later on as a transfer student, then it does appear (according to what you say here) that UVA won’t give you credit for your current classes. After you have your diploma, they will give you credit for your planned summer classes.
Often transfer students don’t obtain the credit they think they will.<br>
But again, according to one of your posts you have applied to a number of universities as a regular freshman, if UVA is one of these than no worries now. If you are considering applying to UVA as a transfer applicant, you need to wait to do so until after you have graduated from high school (and you won’t obtain credit for your current college classes). There are many rules in the college admissions process, especially the transfer process, that may not make sense, but knowing them at least might help you make a decision that makes sense; i.e apply as a regular freshman and just like students who take AP or IB whose classes might not earn credit at some universities, but will at others, apply to universities that might accept your courses for credit in addition to UVA. Once you have acceptances if college credit is part of your decision process, then I guess you might rule out UVA.</p>
<p>UVa will accept your credits. Most UVa students walk in the door with advanced credit and that’s just fine (AP/IB testing, DE credit, etc). </p>
<p>You need 24 college credits to be a transfer student. The articulation agreement between the Virginia Community College system and the University might not apply to you (I don’t know your case, so you’ll have to do some reading about that).</p>
<p>Dean J,
parent here (not of a UVA applicant) who is glad to hear that DE credit can be earned. I have some general questions for you regarding credit. Does UVA look at sophomores (or upperclassmen) to generate information on what best prepares students for college when it comes to AP, IB and DE? How is credit determined…meaning do you have staff who focus on a particular advanced credit program/option, does faculty look at the courses/tests to determine which will grant credit in their department?
I have friends whose children are UVA students, and some earned a great deal of credit while others did not, the only difference being whether they were AP or full diploma IB students. The students themselves remarked that it seemed unfair, particularly (if I am recalling correctly, the students are now juniors at UVA) for English. Students with scores of a 6 on IB English did not earn the credit that AP students with a 4 earned. AP students agreed that that didn’t seem fair. So, not to get into any huge political discussion on the two programs themselves, I am just wondering as a non-invested person, how UVA determines which scores/courses earn credit.<br>
I am also wondering which option (AP, IB, DE) provides a stronger preparation for doing well in college; if there is a statistically significant difference.
Thanks for any information you have.</p>
<p>The faculty at each school review the policies for awarding credit for AP, IB, and DE credit. The admission office is not making decisions about credit. Students DO get credit for IB exams…they just just have to be HL exams. </p>
<p>In general, 4 and 5 on an AP exam gets credit while a 5, 6, or 7 on an HL IB exam will get credit. There’s a list on the CLAS website that lists everything out. Just do a search for AP or IB credit from the google box on virginia.edu.</p>
<p>For those who don’t know:
HL = Higher Level
SL = Standard Level</p>
<p>From IB:
</p>
<p>Yes, you misunderstood me earlier in the other thread. You can’t apply as a transfer unless you already have your high school degree. If you are planning on taking off your fall semester after graduating hs then at that point you would be a transfer (and likely be admitted as you stated under the agreement, unless there is some wording like Dean J said – apparently there IS see <a href=“http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3308354316414245045&postID=3455276340540980778[/url]”>Blogger: Transferring to UVA - Post a Comment; which says you need to be out of HS for a full year and you cannot apply for Spring transfer) but I don’t see why you wouldn’t be competitive in the regular admission process, or to say it differently why you would take off that fall semester.</p>
<p>I did something like dual enrollment in high school, actually my high school discouraged me from taking college classes at the same time (I had to take them at night in addition to my regular day course load). But I took Calc 2 over the summer, Spanish and Calc 3 during my senior year in addition to my 5 AP classes, and then Diff Eq the summer before matriculating to UVA. I also took education credits through a program that certified me to teach Hebrew my senior year and those transferred as well. So, all in all, with my AP credits and college credits, I transferred around 45 credits my first year (I ended up taking 2 more CC classes over summers as well). </p>
<p>You can view what will transfer by googling for the Transfer Credit Analyzer for UVA. </p>
<p>I’m not aware of any studies about whether AP, IB or DE best prepares students for UVA. From my own personal experience, taking actual college classes over the summer was the most effective way I prepared. AP helped prepare me for that, but nothing really compared to actually being in an environment where you only meet 2-3 times per week, etc.</p>
<p>Just to clear this up-I did not apply as a regular freshman. I was advised not to do so by a counsellor at the community college where I am taking dual-enrollment classes. I was planning to apply late this year for transfer in the spring of 2012 when I would have graduated high school and completed the 24 credits required of UVA transfer applicants. </p>
<p>Dean J-I talked to someone in admissions yesterday and she said that they will accept credits earned during the summer, just not the ones taken while I was still in HS. I just don’t understand why the timing of my classes makes any difference.</p>
<p>Hazelorb- to adress the points mentioned in the link-
1-With 24 credits, I would be considered a sophomore
2-I would go to the college of arts and sciences
3-I will make the deadline
4-Fine
5-I dont necessarily need the guaranteed admission to be competitive</p>
<p>If anyone knows how to get around this seemingly unfounded rule, I’d love to hear about it.</p>
<p>Hazel has already explained, but I’ll try and put this very simply.</p>
<p>I think you need to stop using the term “accept” when it comes to credit. UVa accepts the credit. However, classes taken to complete your high school degree are considered part of your high school work. You may be taking classes at a college, but you are a high school student until you get your diploma.</p>
<p>From our transfer page:
</p>
<p>I have a feeling your counselor at your high school would have advised you a little better on this. If you still need a little help with this, go talk to your high school counselor.</p>
<p>My DE courses were not taken to satisfy any high school requirements, they were taken in addition to my regular course load for the expressed purpose of getting a jump start on college. I still don’t understand why the same credits that would have been accepted on a regular freshman application don’t apply to a transfer application. If the reason is because I’m technically not a “college student” until I graduate HS, then DE courses are completely useless unless you apply for regular freshman decision. I am really starting to see why this idiot counsellor works at a community college.</p>
<p>It is a shame that the counselor at your community college didn’t give you the advice you needed. The 24 credits are after you have graduated from high school to obtain what UVA deems a transfer student to be. Did the cc counselor know you were in high school? </p>
<p>Did you talk to your high school counselor about your college applications? Did you apply to any schools as a regular freshman? If so, why did you see a distinction between them and UVA? Your other choices from other posts (I believe GW and Miami were mentioned) are competitive as well.
Hopefully you will get into a school that fits you, meets your needs and expectations as a regular freshman admit, and will be happy there when spring of 2012 rolls around.</p>
<p>Dean J - Your most recent post seems very clear, but let me ask one clarification question.</p>
<p>Does the rule apply to all college credits earned prior to high school graduation, or just those that carry both college and high school credit? In other words, could a student transfer in using credits that she earned while in high school, as long as that student did not receive any high school credit for them?</p>
<p>There is indeed a difference between DE and regular college courses. The initials kind of speak for themselves…dual enrollment, enrolled in high school and taking college courses. Since UVA states a transfer applicant is a person who has taken 24 credits AFTER graduating from high school, it is a true shame that the community college counselor didn’t spot the issue.</p>
<p>Guaranteed admission is a program for students in community colleges, who have graduated from high school. They follow a set path of courses and obtain a particular gpa depending on what 4 year university they hope to attend after their 2 years at a cc.</p>
<p>Dual enrollment doesn’t equal guaranteed admission, just as taking tons of AP or IB courses doesn’t mean guaranteed admission. The terms can be confusing, which is why high school counselors are very helpful to their seniors as they apply to colleges.</p>
<p>Again, I do hope you applied as a freshman to other universities.</p>
<p>forgot to add that those credits earned from AP/IB or DE can earn college credit. All three assist seniors in high school when applying for admission…showing they are taking a strong course load, and can be used (depending on scores for AP/IB and grades/course description for DE) for credit their freshman year…sometimes into sophomore year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the support 3321. She definitely knew I was currently in HS - I was only working with this counsellor BECAUSE I wanted to start the DE classes. She claimed to have some inside knowledge on UVA admissions and that the transfer idea was foolproof. That’s why I only started this convoluted process with UVA. I used the regular application process with all the other schools on the list. This is just so upsetting because UVA was a perfect fit. It was the top school on my list and its only 10k? any other high caliber school on my list is at least 3 times that much. Anyways, thanks for your help. I’m gonna go get this counsellor fired.</p>
<p>Good luck, and not to be snarky but prior to “getting the counselor fired” remove one of your “L’s” in the word:-). In addition, one area as a parent that initially baffled me is when a school states their costs, and only mention their tuition. IS students at UVA will be paying about $23,000 per year, if they reside on campus. Off campus housing might be slightly less in overall costs.</p>
<p>Haha thanks. I find the fact that schools don’t list the room and board in the tuition a little deceiving-Miami is somewhat reasonable at 36k…that is until you add all the fees and it adds up to 55k. Ridiculous. I hope I get some aid or something, otherwise I may not get to go anywhere.</p>
<p>When looking at AP credits, make sure you are looking at the list for 2011-12 and that you read all of the footnotes. Several AP classes now need a 5 in order to get credit. History AP credit policies in particular were toughened up for new students.</p>
<p>You also could consider just taking another semester at the community college and applying for fall transfer, if you were going to stay anyways and it would be super cheap…</p>
<p>Ya but that would mean another whole year of dealing with the idiotic people at the community college, as well as another year living with my parents. I think what I’ll do is go to one of the schools that I applied to and then, if UVA is still enticing to me, transfer in the fall of 2012. Check out this thread if you want to see my prospective schools : <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1090308-rank-my-prospective-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1090308-rank-my-prospective-colleges.html</a></p>
<p>Also, what do you think my chances are at admission in 2012, assuming I maintain a 3.8-4.0 GPA?</p>
<p>Blackbullitt, I just want to clarify something. I do think talking with the community college counselor is important, if only to ensure she doesn’t make the same mistake with other DE students. However, I am not sure you should actively try to get her fired. It could have been an honest mistake or despite you knowing that she knew you were in high school, she may have forgotten. Another quick question, did you tell your high school counselor what this person suggested? </p>
<p>And I am not truly saying let this be a life lesson, but I am saying you as a young adult will need to ensure that the information you receive is valid before pursuing major life effecting decisions. When you are an undergrad the catalog you receive (possibly only on-line) detailing your graduation requirements becomes your bible . While you will have an academic adviser, it is up to each student to keep track of their requirements so they don’t apply to graduate and find out they are missing a credit or basic requirement. Keep in mind that if you are one of the majority of students at many universities that take more than 4 years to graduate (UVA of course being one of the best for 4 yr grad rates), your requirements remain what they were when you enter the school. Changes may occur for students who enter later than you…their requirements are not yours. </p>
<p>And this doesn’t just affect undergrads. When I was getting my masters we needed to complete a thesis; students who entered the program after us only had to complete something called “an action research paper” which was a seemingly much easier, less constrictive end of program endeavor. A couple of my peers thought they could blow off the thesis and graduate with the action research group…doing an action research paper…they couldn’t; they were bound by the catalog we started our program with. Unfortunately one of those students never did obtain her masters, since she had put it off and no longer had the group of us nearby to support her (and it was truly needed support, just to vent at times when we got mired in our thesis).</p>
<p>Thus, regardless of whomever is advising you; a community college counselor, your high school counselor (who should also talk with all DE students to ensure they don’t fall into this mistaken belief), or academic advisers in undergrad or graduate programs, you need to understand what you need to do to graduate, apply for graduate programs, apply to jobs etc. </p>
<p>And truly, that community college counselor should have known the distinction between you and her students in the guaranteed admission program; should have known you are not a high school grad and what that meant, and I am sorry her advice was wrong. </p>
<p>I see you have made the wise decision to focus on your other schools (all look good; glad finances aren’t a problem for you…if you can even conceive that some of the costs are reasonable, than you have many excellent choices). As you said, if you find UVA is still enticing after a semester at whatever university you matriculate to, then you can apply…and your transcripts will more than likely be more impressive than if you had stuck with your original plan. Plus you would have been at that cc for the fall, right? Since you were looking at spring 2012. Sounds like you want the experience of living on a residential campus in the fall, versus at home.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>