topic Re: Dual Enrollment in High School in Community Chat

Dual Enrollment in High School

ScrapHappy — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:23:18 GMT

Anyone have experience with having their son/daughter doing dual enrollment while still in HS? If so, was it actually very helpful and worth while doing? Or is taking AP or Honors classes more of what colleges want to see on transcripts?

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

DrakesMomma — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:30:13 GMT

My son took college classes while in high school. I suppose it depends on the child for college vs. AP classes. He did get the largest scholarship in his class to our local university. This is where he took classes. He is about a year ahead of his high school friends that are going to college. That means there will be one less college year to pay for!

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

FrostyBabe1 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:40:56 GMT

The son of some firends did this and it was a wonderful choice for him.

They live in a fairly rural area and the school district doesn't offer AP or IB classes. So instead of those, he dual enrolled at the local community college, with the tuition costs being picked up my the school district. When he graduated from high school, he also received an associates degree in some form of applied science and math. He got a full ride to a D1 university to complete his degree and will graduate without any student loan debt.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

busymom22 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:55:51 GMT

My son took dual enrollment classes in high school and it helped him earn 9 total college credits.

They are helpful for fulfilling basic requirements. For example, he didn't have to take English 101. He's a good researcher/writer already so he didn't miss out on anything.

But as a teacher myself I am not a fan of kids taking too many courses. There's a "check the box" mentality and often a lot of material is simply not equivalent to the college level. This can leave kids struggling when they go to a higher level class and find they really didn't learn the basics in that subject.

Also, many kids aren't 100% sure what they want to major in. Taking general ed courses at the college level can help a student figure out their true interests. I've known of successful people who found their calling from a random general ed class they were required to take.

One last thing to consider is the transferability of dual credit courses and how they affect financial aid. Some scholarships are limited and if you come in with a full year of credits you may not qualify for them.

I'd also consider CLEP tests for high school kids. These tests are available in most subjects. Pass the test and if fulfills the requirement for many courses like English 101, Pre Calculus, etc. My son passed several of these tests and heard about this from a friend who earned a lot of credits this way. Just about every public college accepts these for credit and many private colleges as well.There's even a website with an entire course of practice tests for free. Do the course and they will even send you a voucher to pay for the test! It's called modern states dot org.

As for AP courses if your student wants to go to a hard-to-get-into college then it's expected to see a significant number of AP classes on a transcript. It depends on what type of a school a student is shooting for. If you want to go to an average-difficulty university then dual credit/AP can fulfill a year of school and save on costs. But if you are aiming for a top 20 school, AP courses are expected but most of those schools won't take them for credit.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

GabbyAnn — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:58:09 GMT

My daughter took several dual credit classes while in her junior and senior years in high school.

Proved to be very helpful. The dual credit classes that she took we had to pay out of pockett, but it was at a huge savings. And she passed all but 1 of her AP tests so that helped her with college credit, too.

After all the hard work she put in she is away at college now, while it is techically her first year, she was enrolled as a college sophomore. It was a lot of extra work on her part, but she wanted to do it, so we supported her. I think it really paid of for her.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

deepwaterdotter — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:05:56 GMT

I did this during my senior year in high school. It helped me fulfill some of my requisite, entry-level college classes before my first full semester at university. It provided an easy transition to on-campus studies. I also took a couple AP classes in high school.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

sunshine45 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:12:12 GMT

instead of dual enrollment, one daughter took AP classes. she was able to take the exams and earn 21 college credits prior to even beginning college.

another daughter did the dual enrollment and took the high school classes she needed in her senior year and also took 4 basic college classes through our local community college that went towards core classes that she needed for college.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

skatting44 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:17:07 GMT

Most 100 & 101 level college classes are refresher classes , so why pay big $$ for the credits ? The challenge is living and finding a public school that has a good academic record for your child to attend . The national averages of how many high school students can read and write is not good at all. Our ranking among education systems in the world is not good either . Our children are not being educated despite all the tax dollars being spent on education in this country.

Good for those children who are able to obtain those college credits while in high school.

Hope they share their secret to success .

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

Harpa — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:26:16 GMT

I have dual enrollment students in my college classes all the time, as I do presently. I can't say they've always been the best students. I wish I could pinpoint what the problems may have been.

It seems, though, when I had seperate classes with just DE students, those groups always did very well. (same material/same work load)

I should think a transcript displaying college credit would be more impressive. Especially w/ a good grade!

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

sydsgma1 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:30:38 GMT

this is the best way to go...my kids took ap and college classes and had their freshman year for college when they graduated from high school.

as a former school administrator , my only caveat is to make sure potential colleges will,accept the credits . My oldest dgd has her eyes on one of the Ivy League schools and they only only accept credits from major state universities, which she is enrolled in for her college credits.

the other big factor is the student needs to be a sel starter.

good luck

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

LuvmyLab — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:44:18 GMT

When I was a teenager, many, many eons ago, my family moved to a very small country town. I enrolled in the local high school but did not like it at all. Students were actually excused for doing work on their farms! Their whole school attendance was the size of my former senior high school class. I told my parents that I wasn't learning anything because they were so far behind. So we checked into my attending college and taking college courses while at the same time finishing high school at the college also. It worked out perfectly. After I received my diploma (a real one, not a GED) I just continued taking college classes. They did not have AP classes back then but this was great for me!

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

Desert Lily — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 16:48:54 GMT

@ScrapHappy I suggest that your son take the highest weighted courses. AP classes are more rigorous and are weighted higher than regular classes - that means a higher GPA if your son does well in the higher weighted courses. IB classes and an IB diploma are rated higher. Universities are looking for students who challenge themselves and take more rigorous courses successfully. My child took AP courses and IB courses with an IB high school diploma and went on to an ivy league school for undergrad and another ivy league school for grad school & doctorate degree.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

Lisa now in AZ — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 17:04:39 GMT

I have a friend and her two oldest have both done this. When they graduate from high school, they also have their Associate's degree from a communtiy college and they have been really happy with the results.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

Jaspersmom — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 18:06:50 GMT

@skatting44 wrote:
Most 100 & 101 level college classes are refresher classes , so why pay big $$ for the credits ? The challenge is living and finding a public school that has a good academic record for your child to attend . The national averages of how many high school students can read and write is not good at all. Our ranking among education systems in the world is not good either . Our children are not being educated despite all the tax dollars being spent on education in this country.

Good for those children who are able to obtain those college credits while in high school.
Hope they share their secret to success .

Our students ARE being educated, but only in the way that those in power have deemed appropriate. When you say not educated, I'm sure you mean that kids today have poor reading, writing and math skills. One reason for that is students are expected be "jacks of all trades and expert at none." They are given very little time to practice a skill before their teachers are required to move on to new topics. I once counted up how much material I was expected to cover in a given year and found that there weren't enough hours in a day for me to teach all that was required. I believe we should have a balance of old and new, shorten up curriculum and allow kids plenty of time to practice and apply what they've been taught.

In addition, parents have to be supportive and encourage learning as an ongoing endeavor. They should be role models. For example, if they want their kids to read well, then they have to embrace reading at home. Many Americans haven't read a novel since their high school days. What does that say to our kids?

Writing may seem like a lost art, but hey, it's still important and one measure of an educated society. All of us should be able to speak and write well. We should understand grammar, spelling and usage AND if our students make mistakes, they should be corrected by both teachers and parents. Correction should be viewed as a help and not a criticism.

There are many other factors that impact learning, but those are just a couple of things that come to mind.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

DustRose — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:18:48 GMT

My son didn't like high school and pitched the idea of dual enrollment

He wasn't into high school so we agreed it would be good for him. Not only was it good he thrived and earned at least 12 credits

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

jeanlake — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:56:14 GMT

My full time career was college counselor. It's a great idea to continue academic interest while in high school and earn college credits and confidence before first, official semester in college.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

NicksmomESQ — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 01:16:26 GMT

My son took both,college courses as well as AP classes while in high school. He got college credit for all of them.He also received a generous college scholarship & graduated early.

My son thoroughly enjoyed those classes far more than he did the regular high school honors classes. They challenged him more.They sharpened his brain & made him think bigger.

Re: Dual Enrollment in High School

chrystaltree — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 01:29:48 GMT

My niece took college classes while she was in her senior year of h.s. and she took 2 college classes the summer she graduated that first semester of college was done when she started college. She had already been accepted to college early in her senior year so it wasn't about what the colleges wanted. Her plan was to finish college in 3 years. However, she ended up changing her major so it took her 4 years to graduate anyway.