You’re allowed to take 9 courses a year at my school, max. However, I have a few college level courses I would like to take over the summer and transfer onto my transcript (Dual Enrolled) as well as an after school class, putting me over the limit.
The most likely option would be to write a letter and hope the high school administrators make an exception for me, but I don’t know if they will. I took a DE Drafting class (Intro to Eng. Design) and got a B for the year, and as a result of struggling with it (all-nighters) had little time for other classes. The only class that it noticeably affected was French II, because my teacher isn’t that great. I have around an 88-89 average for the year. Both courses will show up as a B, no plus or minus.
Do you think I’d be able to get an exception and take 10 courses per year? The external classes would be taken over the summer, except for senior year, which would be college level Human Geography, plus the AP exam. All except one (which may change) will be AP/college level equivalent (for better rigor) with the AP exam. Also, I want to take 10 courses each year except for freshman (9 courses).
I managed to exceed my school’s course limit (10) simply by showing my counselor that I can handle the extra work based on my previous academic credentials. This was a very formal process in which I scheduled an appointment with him and included a portfolio of my grades, PSAT scores, and some awards.
If your local college allows anyone to dual-enroll without permission from your high school, then no one is stopping you from doing so. The only difference is that your counselor may not include the grades on your transcript, but you can still send a separate transcript to colleges.
Though, if you want the course to count towards your GPA, then you’d have to get permission from your high school. I suggest you take the steps I did to exceed the maximum course limit. I honestly feel that you should do this in person rather than through writing. It’s definitely worth a try and demonstrates your interest to go above and beyond your school’s requirements.
@AnEpicIndian School just ended for me this week… And while I don’t need to worry about exceeding the limit this year, a required economics class might be replaced with an AP/college level Micro/Macro and Finance. And with two B’s on my transcript, I don’t think they’ll be as open to it, especially with a warning from my GC to tell the school immediately if the one after school class (Econ) is ‘too much’. Plus I haven’t taken any tests yet except the standard EOC’s with no perfect scores on them. I’m planning on taking MOOC’s online, so I don’t have to pay for them. It would still be DE since it’s college level, though.
The classes are “The Power of Microeconomics: Economic Principles in the Real World” and the same title for Macro, except for the one letter change. They say they are the equivalent of 1 semester each and supposed to be taken together/sequentially.
Another question: Can anyone suggest a way to request a change from Econ to something else? It’s a little tricky for me, because I’m technically not eligible for Econ until junior year, and needed a letter by my parents to request it. While it was just the GC asking the principal once, then again to clarify that I could take it after school, I may annoy them by coming in and asking them questions all the time. Would a letter along with the external course request form (most likely for Micro/Macro) suffice? If not, what else do I add?
Also, while I plan on doing other things over the summer, you are allowed one external course per year, with a max of four total. That means I can only take one external course each year, plus the one after school. If I manage to get approval for 10 classes per year, should I try and push for 1 or even 2 more classes per year (2-3 over the summer, plus the one in senior year - I could NOT handle that)? Or just flat out asking if I could exceed the 9 course limit AND the one external class? I don’t want to put that I self-studied exams when I actually took courses on it, I need to take the DE course/ AP exam to balance out my lowered UW GPA from the two B’s, and I think no college transcript will be provided unless you pay for a Verified Certificate. I would love to take AP Art HIstory (I believe you can enroll at Khan Academy), but have no place to take it unless I self-study or get permission for more external credits.