I am a running start student which allows me to get dual credit. I was wondering if having dual credit would help me get into a college even if it doesn’t accept dual credit. I am specifically wondering about Stanford but some of my other top choice colleges don’t accept dual credit either.
Courses taken at a local university are like AP or honors classes in that they boost your chances because you have a rigorous schedule. Beyond that, no effect.
I think it all really depends on the applicant. For example, I don’t really know how colleges would perceive someone who is scattered that takes every dual enrollment course that they possibly can for the sake of padding. It’s not a bad thing that they have advanced themselves academically. In fact it’s great that they have taken the initiative to further push themselves in their academics. On the other hand if you have an applicant that’s highly interested in ecology and environmental science that has exhausted the curriculum and goes on to dual enroll in ES college courses that shows that they have some sort d passion for environmental sciences. If they go on to do many other things that shows this passion, then it’s evident and the dual course only helps. They could be that somewhat well-rounded applicant that happens to have this hidden passion and proves it by taking highly advanced dual courses on environmental science. You see how it slowly starts to get a bit complicated because it’s all dependent in the applicant? The main lesson is that you should dual enrollment classes that you are highly interested in and passionate about. That passion will be obvious once you start pursuing it. Don’t take a class for the sake of impressing a school as it can often lead to unhappiness. Enjoy your education. If you’re one of those people who loves learning and that’s your passion, take all the DE courses that you wish to take. Just follow your passions. If you do that, everything will fall into place and colleges will take note.