<p>i am currently a sophmore in high school, and want to go to stanford or mit or gatech. I can choose to take ap classes next year, or dual enroll in georgia tech or georgia state. what would be the best path to:</p>
<p>a challange myself
b get the most credits
c look good on ana pplication</p>
<p>Generally a college class will cover more material in less class hours. When you calculate the number of classroom hours needed to complete an AP class vs. the college course, you will see that AP classes are effectively taught at half the college speed. You may also need to mix and match college and APs, since there are often restrictions on how many college classes you can take at one time.</p>
<p>In addition, there are other considerations: in my son’s high school, he is required to take 7 classes at his school no matter what – college and online classes must be IN ADDITION to this. Thus, taking a “most challenging” high school class load PLUS college classes can be a major time burden, especially if you’re also involved with extracurriculars (which you should be if you hope to get into an elite school)</p>
<p>Also note that many elite colleges will not give you credit for college classes taken for dual credit, but will give you credit for AP classes. Harvard and Princeton have advanced standing programs which allow you to skip either 1/2 year or a full year IF you take enough AP classes and get 5’s on the corresponding tests. You can, of course, hedge your bet and take the AP test on your own after completing the college class – my son did this with chemistry. However, be aware that you may not learn exactly everything you need for the AP in the college class – AP classes have to follow a pre-arranged curriculum, the college classes can focus on some areas in more depth and leave other material for another class. Thus, you may need to review with the help of an AP test prep book and teach yourself new material, even if you aced the college classes.</p>