Hi all! I’m going to be a freshman in high school next year and my local community college is offering students the opportunity to earn their associate’s degree in high school. I have many varied interests, so I want to earn 2 or even 3 diplomas by the time I graduate high school. So here’s my dilemma: a lot of the classes (such as history, English, geography, etc.) offered by the college can easily be accredited for by taking AP classes in high school. I want to take the AP tests also, but I don’t know if college classes will prepare me enough for the tests as much as the actual AP classes themselves. Also, I think taking my general ed classes before my electives will help in later classes. So, again: Will taking community college courses help prepare me for AP tests? Thank you for any advice you can give me! 
I would say that if your goal is to do well on AP tests, then you should take the high school AP class. Those AP classes have a syllabus specifically tailored to the content that will be on the AP test. While you may learn a greater breadth or depth of content in a college class, it won’t necessarily match up as well with the AP test requirements.
On the other hand, if your goal is to earn an Associate’s degree by the time you graduate from high school, then you may want to take the equivalent class from the community college instead. In order to earn a full Associate’s degree by the time you graduate high school, you will have to carefully plan and coordinate your coursework, because there is going to be virtually no room for courses that don’t apply to both of your goals. You will certainly not have the time to take an AP class and then a college class in the same topic.
Most community colleges will give you college credit for AP courses, provided you earn a high grade (>3) on the AP test. You should check with your local CC to find out their requirements for accepting AP courses for college credit.
One thing to be aware of is that earning college credit may make you a transfer student when you go to apply to a four-year school, especially if you earn an associate’s. Being considered a transfer may affect your eligibility for merit aid at some schools and would put you in a different pool of applicants. Just FYI.