Hello,
We are four students (juniors) who are currently enrolled in an early college/ dual enrollment program through our school district and the local community college. The way the program is set up, students can take college classes at the same time they take their high school classes (the state pays for both of these). The program adds an extra year so that students can ideally complete an associate’s degree through the college, or transfer to university with two years of college out of the way. This is where we run into our problem. The four of us are at the top of our class and we are all feeling like we are not being challenged enough (particularly in our HS classes). This semester (winter 2016) is the last semester we have to take high school classes (as all state requirements are out of the way). The issue is now deciding what we want to do with the rest of our time at the school (the last 2 years (summers included)). All four of us are quite ambitious and hardworking, with each wanting to go into a challenging field (medicine, engineering, physics, and mathematics). Our question is what we should do with our remaining two years of free college. I know this question seems stupid but we are questioning whether we should get the associates degrees and then go into our undergrad studies, apply the community college credits to our undergrad degrees, or something else altogether. We all want the best education possible, and so acceptance into good colleges is a large consideration, in addition to overall usefulness each choice could provide in our careers.
So what should we do? Get the associates degrees? Try to transfer our credits to a 4 year? Work on bachelor ’s degrees from local universities while still in the program?
All help is greatly appreciated.
If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Tl;dr: four super nerds trying to decide what to do with 2 years of free comm. college
I really don’t have much advice, save to say that it is a shame that you didn’t do your dual enrollment course work at a four-year university. Was the state not willing to pay for or discount this?
I would not continue DE after high school graduation. The best scholarship offers are for entering freshman. Transfer student scholarship are less generous, so your “free” extra yr could end up costing you a lot more $$.
Investigate the 4 yr schools you are interested in attending and the work your way backwards to your answer.
^ This. Also check on whether you will actually get credit for those DE classes. Some four year colleges may not accept them.
If you are highly accomplished students, your best options for applying to college will be as frosh, not transfers. Assuming that your high school graduation date will be in June 2017 (since you say that you are currently juniors in high school), then it is best if you follow the usual college application schedule (take SAT and ACT this spring 2016, talk to your parents about college costs, apply to colleges as frosh in fall 2016). Taking college courses after high school graduation will likely force you to take the transfer route at most colleges, which is more limiting in admissions and scholarships for those with good academic records while in high school.
As far as what college courses to choose, consider your interests. The pre-med should be aware that college courses and grades taken while in high school will count toward GPA when applying to medical schools, so it is important for the pre-med to get A grades in them (particularly biology, chemistry, physics, and math courses). Students interested in engineering and physics should choose calculus-based physics courses; they and students interest in math should consider multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. Of course, general education courses like English composition and other humanities and social studies courses can also be helpful.
Be aware that some colleges, like University of Michigan, are very stingy with transfer credit. So check transfer credit policies at colleges of interest so that you will not have to waste time repeating what you already know.