Parents: a dual enrollment question--

Parents Forum
1

<p>I know I could probably ask this elsewhere but I think I can get a more straightforward and accurate response from the PARENTS.</p>

<p>My daughter, 17, is a home-schooled junior. Part of her curriculum at home is studying for the CLEP exams (she has passed 2 so far) and she just finished 2 Dual Enrollment classes at the local community college here (Florida) a month ago. </p>

<p>Now she has begun taking 1 DE class at the local college (paid by the state) and 2 online classes at an out-of-state institution, paid by us. She is a registered as a transient student at the out-of-state school. Total: 3 college level classes, all ending by July 30th.</p>

<p>When August returns daughter will be a SENIOR and she will resume taking 2 DE classes, per semester, at the local community college. She is intending to apply in September to her top choice, an “away” university in our state, for admission in fall 2011.</p>

<p>My question: I know the the credits my daughter is earning at the o-o-s community college are accepted by our state university system. However, because my daughter is not a full-time college student, will these summer college credits my daughter is taking NOW be accepted by the university when she enters it in 2011? </p>

<p>Or do you have to be already enrolled in an institution (as a full-time college student) to have summer, transient credits count for anything?</p>

<p>It seems I have read more than once that quite a few high school students–juniors and seniors–take summer college courses, and once they enter their university of choice (over ayear later, if they are juniors), they are awarded credit for those summer classes. A Texan junior might go to summer school at Colombia, earn a half dozen credits, and then apply those credits to his transcript once he begins attending UT Austin, for example. </p>

<p>Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks!</p>

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<p>I think it totally depends on the college/university and their decision varies considerably. In some case, the credits could be called electives, because a school’s curriculum may have tight requirements.</p>

<p>One other consideration you may want to investigate (which you didn’t mention) is whether she has taken so many courses that she’ll be considered a transfer student, not an incoming freshman. That will make a difference in scholarships and type of application she completed and her chances of getting in.</p>

3

<p>As long as she is dual enrolled (which she is as a homeschooled student) she will apply as a freshman, regardless of the number of credits she has.</p>

<p>most state schools will accept transfer credit from both community college and other accredited college programs --what the credit will transfer as is up to the school.</p>

<p>i would suggest you take a close look at the college catalog and college bulletin where she is thinking of attending. Check out how they treat CLEP scores, AP test results and transfer credits. Some schools only accept certain tests – so no need to waste time and money on tests that won’t count for anything.</p>

<p>See what courses she can take to meet distribution requirements (particularly in subjects she doesn’t like all that much) which will free up her time to take classes she wants to take. Also look to see what classes/tests she can take that will give let her skip the intro classes in subjects she excels in.</p>

<p>Lots of good ways to use college credit earned in high school if you understand how it is handled at the school she is wanting to attend.</p>

4

<p>

A week ago I would have said this too, but I’ve heard from a few people that some colleges DO consider DE freshman as transfers if they have too many classes. It is true in MOST cases that she would apply as a freshman, though - find out from the specific school to be sure. And after she enters as a freshman, she may be given a bunch of credits and immediately jump to sophomore status.</p>

<p>As far as getting credit, that depends on the school. Some may give specific credit (credit for BIO 101), some may give placement (the ability to sign up for BIO 202), some give non-specific credit (Science elective), and some may give nothing at all. So the only way to clarify this is to look at her school of choice (is it also a safety in addition to being her first choice?) or call them and ask.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I’m not a parent, but it will depend on the school. Look on the website and see if the schools accepts the tests your child has taken, and also contact the admissions office and see if her credits will be transferred to the state school.</p>

6

<p>My three sons attended highschool and community college at the same time. They earned their AS degress the month before they graduated highschool but the degree was not awarded until the highschool diploma was issued. They all started at their respective colleges as freshman. One son was granted no credit for any of the courses and two were allowed to use a few credits. They have friends that were able to transfer many more credits (at state U’s) but they all went into college as freshman (living in freshman dorms) regardless of how many credits they earned while in highschool.</p>

7

<p>I believe in Florida, that community college courses taken AFTER graduation can result in the student being admitted as a transfer student ( to Fl state universities) which makes admission more difficult. Anything taken prior to graduation is ok. Talk to the dual enrollment advisor at the cc she attends.</p>

8

<p>Also, if you are a homeschooler, good scores on CLEP tests, AP tests, and SAT IIs help show what you’ve learned and may all be useful for college admission even if they don’t yield college credits. Many private schools don’t accept CLEP scores for credit, although some (GW, for example) are generous.</p>

9

<p>

In Florida, this issue is usually advised by the HS guidance office (which coordinates DE classes). Since your D is home-schooled, you need to check with her dual-enrollment advisor, as Feb158 says. I can’t stress how important this is. Someone needs to be advising her on course selection. Since she’s planning on attending an in-state university, the transition should be very smooth with all credits transferring, BUT (and this is a big “but”) the time to make sure her credits transfer is BEFORE she signs up for DE classes. Were you advised ahead of her registration that her OOS classes would “count” toward her college graduation requirements? It is especially important that she, and you, are advised about her college status at the time she registers for those college classes.</p>

<p>For example, both my kids took DE college classes during HS in Florida. They both took CLEPs to qualify before enrolling in CC classes during summer after 9th grade. Both went on to take college classes at the state university under DE status before HS graduation. By junior year, both were taking all their classes on the university campus. Both were required to register as full-time students at the university. S1 continued as a student with the state uni after HS graduation, with all of his HS DE credits transferring. He was able to graduate a year early from college, even with doing a co-op later during college (alternating a semester of classes with working an internship).</p>

<p>In Florida, the HS/CC/state university network is a well-oiled machine. If I recall correctly, home-schoolers do have supervising guidance at the HS level (maybe it’s an office at the HS district level?) as the curriculum has to be pre-approved. If I were you, I would not enroll her, or pay for, any OOS classes before I had pre-approval for those classes. (Too late now, I know, but you may still get approval depending on what those classes she took were.) But you and she do need to talk about her course selection in advance of registration with whoever is advising her HS curriculum–whether that person is in the local HS district or at the CC. That person or persons will know if her course(s) will “count” and/or transfer for college credit after she enrolls in the state uni. At the very least, you want to make sure those credits count for HS toward graduation.</p>

<p>Best wishes and good luck to your D.</p>