Ok… so this has been such a hectic time for me…
Since January, I had been searching aimlessly for how to get into college. I’m 15 and my schedule at my high school was packed with AP classes, but I went to public school and I felt like I was the only one taking it serious… I planned to transfer to another public school near mine but it was practically the same so I invested in private school. Because I was top of my class at public school, took all APs, and was on a lot of sports teams, I had no trouble getting accepted… and only have to pay like 1000/year (for the next two years that I’m in high school) out of 12100/year.
However the story doesn’t end there. After enrolling in private school I stumbled upon the almighty dual enrollment. It was perfect and exactly what I needed. I talked to the people at the private school and informed them about how I wished to pursue this next year when I’m a junior… and from what I understand, they are willing to work with me on creating a schedule.
But it gets worse…
When applying to a university, I had to apply as a non-matriculated student. And did I mention the college is 1 and a half miles away?! And now that I will attending private school during the year of my dual enrollment this upcoming fall, I’m not eligible to have any sort of financial aid and my school nor state will cover the cost. Now I’m scrabbling because I’m confused and panicking!!
First of all, can non-matriculated/dual enrollment students live on campus? I want to be a full-time dual enrollment student and the college is too far to commute daily so can I just live there? (Ik every college is different but the website to the one I’m applying to doesn’t specify so what are the odds that I could live there?)
Second, w/o housing, I am still in DESPERATE need for money. My family is very low income and my private school tuition fees already put a dent into things (plus I have a sister who will be a senior at the same college I’m going to and she’s swimming in loans)… are there any scholarships or financial aid for non-matriculated/dual enrollment students?
Third, on campus, what can I expect?. Will anyone care that I’m 2-4 years younger? Will there be things I can’t do like sports or leaving campus for fun?
How do I deal with this stress?!
I have plenty of more questions but I don’t want to overdo it and those are the main ones that have worried me… HELP? (Sorry if I completely confused you)
You’re just finishing your sophomore year of high school?
You probably can’t matriculate at the college until you have a high school diploma or GED, or at least until you have some more high school classes completed to satisfy the college’s matriculation requirements.
One-and-a-half miles is too far for a daily commute?
Worry about high school now. It sounds like all the stress you are experiencing is completely self-induced.
No. I know of no school that allows that.
That makes no sense. You can walk there.
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My family is very low income and my private school tuition fees already put a dent into things (plus I have a sister who will be a senior at the same college I’m going to and she’s swimming in loans)… are there any scholarships or financial aid for non-matriculated/dual enrollment students?
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Talk to your GC about options but I doubt it.
No one will care you are that young in class. But you will NOT be a resident student at the college.
It sounds like you need to attend the private school OR attend the public school where you can do DE.
The college most likely won’t give you any money as a non-matriculated student, and you won’t be eligible for federal aid. Usually a student needs to be a full time matriculated student to live in student housing. There are a lot of things you won’t be able to do at a college if you are 16, like drinking or going to R rated movies, but I don’t think that will be an issue as I don’t think they will allow you to live there.
A mile and a half isn’t far. You would not have received bus service at my high school, and would have been expected to walk or bike to school if you lived within 2 miles.
It sounds like you will take no courses at the private school, you’ll just pay them and take all your courses at the university - and pay them too? Why wouldn’t you just go to the public school, sign up for dual enrollment, and have the public school, or the state, pay your tuition to the university as a dual enrolled student? I’m not sure full time dual enrollment is allowed, so you’ll have to check out what the school/state will pay. Here, I believe the high school will pay for 2-3 courses per semester, tuition and books and a bus/rail pass. Usually the students go to high school in the morning and to the college in the afternoon.
This smells like a bogus post.
I meant 1 and a half hours.
Around here the HS juniors and seniors can take 1-2 classes DE per semester. They have to pay tuition for them and are responsible for their transportation.
Did you already exhaust all AP classes at the private school? If not maybe taje some AP and also a few DE classes that make sense.
DE credits might not transfer to your future college and if you get 4/5 on AP exam you might credit for a gen ed requirement or higher placement.
If the college is 1 1/2 hours away…it is too far for you to attend. How would you get there…and back?
In addition, you must be a matriculated student to receive financial aid at any college. You can’t get financial aid as a non-matriculated student.
Here is my suggestion…instead of going to the college, how about if you look for some online courses? You might also want to discuss this with your high school counselor. Some schools actually support these online courses.
In any event…what you are proposing by attending an unaffordable college dual enrollment, that is too far away…just isn’t going to work.
Dual enrollment doesn’t mean you just start college early and live there, it means you take college courses while you also attend high school. You do not take courses at colleges that are 1.5 hours away but at local schools, or sometimes they teach the dual enrollment at the high school.
Stick with your original plan of going to the private school. I’m sure it will be plenty challenging for you. Or stay at the local high school and take dual enrollment classes at a local college, but youll hAve to take classes at the high scool too…
High school students usually take DE courses at a local university or community college to supplement their high school education. For example if the HS doesn’t offer a lot of AP courses or the student has taken all AP that are available. Or if the student is advanced at math and has taken the highest level the high school offers.
One year our HS didn’t offer one of the AP English courses because too few students signed up, students who didn’t want to take Honors English took a freshman composition class at the local uni, but had to pay for it.
In our state, you can do free dual enrollment for your last two years of high school for all of your credits or just for some. But doing this full time only makes sense for public school students because it wouldn’t make sense to pay tuition to a private school where you don’t actually take courses. And while students can do dual enrollment at the local large public research university, many take classes at community colleges.
Here is a link to a summary of dual enrollment policies by state.
http://www.ecs.org/dual-concurrent-enrollment-policies/