In that case you should go with dual enrollment.
okay! Thanks. I am already doing that so, I am glad it was the right choice. @coolweather
your situation is okay, but DEFINITELY explain why you’re taking cc instead of AP’s in your personal statements
I’m not sure what the question is, but here is some of what I know.
- AP courses are followed by AP exams, and the AP exams can give you college placement and/or credit at many colleges
- taking college courses during HS that appear on your HS transcript will NEVER result in any college credit, but they should make you eligible for higher placement
Since the OP indicates he/she is taking college courses that will be on their HS transcript, the benefit would be that colleges should consider such courses as more rigourous than an AP course, but conversely would NOT give transfer credit for those classes. So perhaps a bit of a boost in terms of getting into a college, but losing money in terms of not getting degree credit for courses.
I would suggest however, that if the OP is taking state college courses that relate to AP courses, such as calculus for example, study on your own for the related AP test and then if you do well, you will get the college credit. The AP test is the only thing that gets you the college credit, not the AP course. My son self-studied AP Calculus AB and took the AP test at his school. The OP should look into that.
Also, make sure that Stanford will accept the college courses on your high school transcript.
A transcript from the university where the courses are being taken should be requested to be sent to the universities applied to. It is up to those individual schools as to whether or not credit is granted.
Since the OP stated “aiming for Stanford,” this is the info that needs to be understood:
https://undergrad.stanford.edu/advising/student-guides/advanced-placement-and-transfer-credit
IMHO, dual enrollment courses, in general, better than AP, even when taken at Community Colleges. If you get a C or better, the credits are transferable to the majority of Colleges in the US (except some Ivies). A number of Colleges will not give credit for AP exam with scores below 4 or 5. Also, some graduate programs will not accept AP courses/exam to meet the prerequisites for their graduate program (e.g., AP Statistics).
The issue of the courses appearing on the HS transcript is not an issue with most colleges that I’m aware of. What some Colleges are opposed to, are dual enrollment classes that are taken on HS campuses. Stanford, University of Pennsylvania and Cornell accepts dual enrollment credits. I think most State Universities accept DE courses with grades of C and above.
In the State of Florida, a large number of Juniors/Seniors go to these specialize high school located on Community Colleges (all tuition/fees and books are free) and a lot of graduates (leave with an AA degree) goes on to top universities across the country, completing their 4-year degree in only two years.
@Jamrock411 Ah! Thank you that was quite useful info!
It really does depend on the college.
If your school really does have a dual-enrollment agreement, and can add the course to your HS transcript then I don’t think there will be a problem.
If you are taking university classes, it is up to the receiving university (i.e Stanford) to decide if they will give you either HS credit, or college credit towards graduation.
My dd took a CC course because the teacher who normally taught APUSH, was ill and on leave, and they couldn’t hire and train a new teacher fast enough for the APUSH class (the other teachers couldn’t pick up the slack for ~300 APUSH kids), so they suggested that the students take it at the community college.
DD had to constantly request that the CC registrar send the one-course transcript to her schools, including her high school. Some accepted the credit, some didn’t.
Only lightly skimmed so sorry if I missed this but if you are pre-med, keep in mind that these college courses will have to be listed on your med school application.
@iwannabe_Brown wow! I didn’t know that, thanks!
“NEVER” is far too broad a statement here, since many colleges do accept all transferable courses for transfer credit, even if they are taken while in high school in a dual enrollment situation.
Some colleges do impose restrictions that tend to affect dual enrollment students, such as refusing transfer credit for college courses taken on a high school campus, college courses that fulfill high school or college preparatory requirements, etc… Others may just be stingy in general with transfer credit (e.g. Michigan), though they may not have any particular restrictions that affect dual enrollment students.
If a student is concerned about transferability and is taking a college course for which there is a high school AP course and exam that approximates it, s/he can take the AP exam after the college course for double coverage. S/he would not get double credit, but could still get credit if the college accepts one but not the other.
I agree with @ucbalumnus that @rhandco’s is overstated. Many schools DO accept DE credits (just like AP credits), particular from in state colleges. Note that it does not mean it is automatic. It will depend on the school and also the course. Some college may set a limit on the number of credits to be transferred this way though. Taking AP exam as a back up plan only if needed as one may find out where to matriculate before the AP registration deadline. Also, CLEP is also available for the same purpose.
OP, the school would never look down on DE as it is actually at least as rigor as AP courses if not more. You don’t need to explain anything why you are not taking the AP instead. Why would one need to explain not taking easier course after all?
Also, selective colleges allow students to take exams to advance to higher classes. Usually many students retake some classes to be better prepared though. And I would not worry about med schools requiring transcripts for college classes taken in HS.
More to the point, regardless of whether your university accepts them for credit or not, the grades are included in the AMCAS GPA calculation.
If the OP plans to take college classes to substitute AP classes to impress college admission officers then I assume the OP is capable to earn A in most classes. So, it would not be an issue with med schools.
OP wrote:
Not by any means saying OP can’t get As, but I don’t think it’s safe to assume that OP will. If we’re talking about intro level freshman courses at a state flagship, there are going to be a lot of very smart students and if the course is graded on a harsh curve because it’s a weed out class…
Regardless you’d want to caution a high schooler who probably gets told “once you get to college, what you did in high school doesn’t matter” (since that’s generally true) that that statement doesn’t apply to college courses taken while in high school when applying to medical school.
Yeah. I don’t see anyone can predict his grade from those DE classes.
The decision to take college depends on the student’s strength. It’s a matter that the OP needs to decide. The OP can try one class first.
All college courses, even taken in hs, and whether taken for grade, P/F, you received an incomplete, withdrew, must be reported on a med school app. And official transcripts from all colleges attended, even in hs, must be submitted. They (AMCAS –med school app portal) can and will verify via national student clearinghouse.