Thank you for the information! I’m less concerned with how many courses will count toward college requirements and more concerned with how a dual enrollment program will be perceived by college admissions vs. a student who took a lot of AP classes (or was in an IB program). (As far as I can tell from reading lots of posts, there’s great debate about whether AP or IB is “better,” but colleges tend to look favorably on both of them.)
On one hand, to complete the entire associate’s degree takes a lot of work. There are some summer classes involved. And, of course, the grades will actually count IN college, so that’s something to think about that (What if my kids bombs a class?). So, you would think that colleges would look favorably on a program like that.
But, on the other hand, they may see the dual enrollment program as being less rigorous than AP/IB because it is essentially community college, just taught on a high school campus. Students don’t have to pass any final test like in AP or IB. They just have to get a good grade in the class. (I think there is a minimum GPA to complete the program.) They can CHOOSE to take AP tests, but that’s MORE work.
I did talk with the GC, and she said that how it was perceived simply depended on the college. So, I don’t know. Maybe it’s foolish to take the risk knowing that private schools are an option for our kid.
It would seem like the most obvious fit for this kind of program is a motivated kid who knows he or she wants to go to an in state school and isn’t particularly concerned about going to the “best” in state school.
It’s likely to help with college costs. It’s not necessarily where the most intellectually advanced students would go. But, because of that, it seems like fewer of the “top” students apply to this program, which might mean there’s more room for a good student to stand out and not feel like they are in a pressure cooker with everyone being very competitive with one another.
Honestly, I can’t believe I’m thinking about this stuff now.