Both AP and OnRamps from UT Austin are offered at our HS. In some courses the AP teachers are notoriously meh. Will Admission Counselors look down on choosing the Dual credit and OnRamps in lieu of AP with obviously not knowing the particulars?
Call a university and ask. I’d think not - with DE, you will get credit. With AP, you have to pass a test.
However, you will learn in college, all these fine professors they tell you about - for many, it’s marketing. In fact, many you have won’t be professors if at a large public - they’ll be grad students - and at many schools, the professor’s worth will be research.
In other words, you may change the type of class from a HS to college teacher and still get “meh”.
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Our TX public school offers all three options also. I would be cautious with the dual credit classes if your kid is looking at more selective schools - after asking a bunch of questions, I finally figured out that dual credit courses in our district are primarily intended to be accepted at local community colleges and are often not accepted at larger universities. They would likely not be considered rigorous courses on par with AP for admissions to selective schools. My daughter has mostly stuck with AP but did try one OnRamps course, which she has enjoyed (HS teacher is excellent). It’s not clear how out-of-state schools will view OnRamps - we don’t expect to receive course credit, but would be nice to have it recognized as an advanced class equivalent to AP. There have also been administrative hassles with OnRamps due to virtual school, but that’s true of almost everything these days.
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UT OnRamps courses are listed here: OnRamps & College Credit | What to Know About Eligibility, Transferability, Transcripts and more
Approximate equivalencies:
| UT OnRamps | AP course | Other HS course | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHE 306 | English language | ||
| RHE 309K | Topics course | ||
| M 305G | Precalculus (with trigonometry) | ||
| SDS 302 | Data analysis for health professions | ||
| CS 302 | CS principles | ||
| GEO 302E | Geoscience introduction for non-majors | ||
| PHY 302K, 102M | Physics 1 | ||
| PHY 302L | Physics 2 | ||
| HIS 315K | US History | ||
| HIS 315L | US History | ||
| M 301 | Algebra 2, Precalculus (no trigonometry) | ||
| AET 304 | Introductory arts and entertainment technologies | ||
| CH 301, 104M | Chemistry | ||
| CH 302, 104N | Chemistry | ||
| BIO 311C | Biology |
Yeah. Thanks. My kid signed up for OnRamps Physics instead of AP bc she doesn’t want to take a test with millions of science pros. LOL. She switched back to AP US History bc she’s good at that and can most likely get a 4. She was more concerned about how admissions folk would treat her selection when they see AP is being offered. She took the Spanish AP and didn’t sign up for the next one bc the teacher has never taught that one before. So she has a mix, which I think might be best. She doesn’t care about “credit” as much as I do. LOL. She selected dual credit English bc she doesn’t like the AP teacher who’s slated. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the input which falls in line w my thoughts.
You may also want to ask the HS GC if/how that impacts their classification of the schedule on the GC recommendation.
Ask the high school counselor whether the UT on ramps are considered the most rigorous courses for college admissions. The counselor recommendation includes this information.
As already mentioned, selective schools often don’t accept dual credit classes in high school for college credit. My son’s university takes 4-5 on the AP but not college classes for high school credit.
If she is planning on staying in TX, the state schools will accept the UT on ramps.
At our school On-Ramps, DC and AP are weighted the same. Kids all take a combination depending on their schedule, no issues with acceptances to top schools.
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this is like ours. so imma go with this for now. LOL.