Worth taking Community College classes over summer?

<p>I am a freshman and I was wondering if it is worth taking a community college class over summer to get ahead in high school. I am considering taking Algebra 2 and then be able to get ahead in the future. I will also be taking Intro to Business so it won't bring down my weighted gpa in high school (it's only a general level class). Anyways, how will this look to colleges when I apply to MIT or CalTech. Will it look bad? It's it worth my time and are these classes going to be harder than an honor course? Thanks for all your help.</p>

<p>Is Algebra 2 not offered at summer school? I didn’t even know community colleges taught Algebra 2. But if it’s not offered at summer school, then take it at the college. I’m assuming that means you’ll be able to take precalculus sophomore year, then AP Calc AB junior year, and AP Calc BC senior year. That’s the path that I took (I took Algebra 2 during my freshman year though) and you’re ahead of the game, which I always like to be.</p>

<p>Most of these questions are very much personalized, and hard for anyone else to answer.</p>

<p>Of course taking a course over the summer would look good to colleges. They want to see that you are engaged and not spending all of your free time sleeping in and watching Netflix over the summer. </p>

<p>In the same respect, you can do a lot to stay “engaged”. Go to pre-college programs or other programs that have to do with your major of interest, get a job, do community service activities, etc.</p>

<p>So I would say that if you are genuinely interested in the content of these courses, then go for it. If you are taking them simply to impress colleges, then it is a big waste of your time, as you could be doing something that you truly enjoy, or finding your passions.</p>

<p>Regarding the difficulty level of community college courses, I have taken two so far. It’s hard to say how hard they will be, as it depends on many factors- the teacher, the college, the course, etc. personally, I thought that the ones I took were very doable. About the same difficulty and amount of work as honors courses in my school, if not less. Granted, I took courses in subjects that I enjoyed, so it did not feel like “work”. </p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

<p>AnImpAffliction- if the poster takes Alg 2 at a CC, it will not count toward his/her high school graduation requirements. Most colleges like to see this fundamental course taken at the high school level. Just a thought.</p>

<p>Savannahstar, I did not know that. I have friends who took precalc at CC over the summer to take calc AB junior year, and I didn’t hear anything about that. But if that’s the policy, then maybe a summer program would be better.</p>

<p>@AnImpAfflication My high school doesn’t offer this course over summer so I have to take it at a CC. My goal is to take pre calc sophomore year the AP calc BC and the AP stats. Thanks.</p>

<p>@Savannahstar Thanks for the info. My counsleor said it would fulfill the graduation requirement but it will go as a pass or fail on my transcript. I am taking these classes as I want to go into business or engineering in the future, (still deciding). </p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

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<p>Get ahead to what? If it’s just so you can take Calculus BC in your junior year and AP Stats in your senior year, there’s probably not much of a point unless you would find it interesting. If you’d be able to take Calculus BC in your junior year and something more advanced in your senior year, that would help.</p>

<p>Community college is so bad. If you want to deal with students too lazy to get into a better college or stupid enough to pay for an education they don’t need, go for it.</p>

<p>There is NOTHING that you can learn in a community college that you can’t get from a textbook.</p>

<p>If you want to go into engineering, and you are unable to continue with calculus during your senior year (which appears to be the case, since you said you’d take Stats senior year, not Calc III), I’d recommend not taking Algebra over the summer. I took AP Calculus as a junior, and my school doesn’t offer anything higher and Dual Enrollment is logistically impossible. So I’m taking a year off from a calculus class, and it’s rather inconvenient. I’ll either have to retake Calc in college or review the course on my own before summer is over, and honestly it’s just a giant pain. If you can avoid taking a year off from calculus, it’s really easier to do so. Take Algebra II as a sophomore, Pre-Calc as a junior, Calc BC as a senior and Stats over the summer at some point. It will get you through the same courses but will make your life a lot easier.</p>

<p>Totally false that there is “NOTHING you can get” from a community college that you can’t get from a textbook. That is an ignorant comment. There are lots of outstanding teachers at CC’s, especially in lab sciences and the arts where having just a text book leaves you hanging.</p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6410LVW using CC</p>

<p>I’ve taken community college classes during the summer. I can honestly say that it was worth it; I got a lot out of it. I took Algebra II as an incoming sophomore and I received credit for it. The students there aren’t stupid. Many of them transfer to UCLA, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.</p>

<p>Hey guys! This summer I was planning on taking Intro to Business and Finance 101 at the local community college. Should I take these classes or a highschool summer program at the local university, intro to business and finance. I think taking the one at CC would be more rigorous, but would colleges frown upon it and want me to take highschool summer programs at big name universities instead??</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>With some exceptions like RSI, there’s nothing special/impressive about those.</p>

<p>@Whartonplease That is exactly what I’m thinking except they only only offer it at my local cC here</p>

<p>@baileyj57 Our school doesn’t offer Calc III</p>

<p>Hardly any high schools do. Could you take it at a local college?</p>

<p>I’m a senior now, and I took college algebra and speech as dual enrollment courses this year. I did speech over the summer, which was a piece of cake and definitely worth my time, not only because it’s free if you dual enroll, but also a graduation requirement for many college majors. I also did college algebra during the fall of this year, along with ap stats as my math class at school. This was nice since college algebra is one of the basic level math classes often required at universities. The class was very easy, only two times a week and was over within a few months. If you want to take a dual enrollment class during the school year, you can get a period off which is also nice. I chose to take my first period off so I could wake up later. My boyfriend has taken various dual enrollment classes through out high school and has been accepted by 3 Ivy League schools, so I think it’s safe to say that colleges definitely don’t look down upon taking dual enrollment classes. I would definitely recommend dual enrollment not only because you can get a feel for what college classes are like, but also because they are a GPA boost and are free :)</p>

<p>@halcyonheather I’m not sure but I will look it into it maybe junior or senior year at ECC.</p>

<p>@gabbyclouse Cool but my counselor said they won’t boost my gpa because I didn’t take them at my high school</p>

<p>My dual enrollment classes aren’t free. Some you have to pay $23 per credit, and this English class I want to take gives 6 credits. So yeah.</p>

<p>@AnImpAffliction Money isn’t the problem. My parents are willing to spend money for my education</p>