Is it true that 20 units of dual enrollment classes disqualifies HS student from freshmen application? My D took many classes from one college. The subject is an obscure ancient civilization. Actually, she took enough classes to qualify for a minor in this subject from this university. It was a fun project that started in middle school and slowly progressed. Now she wants to apply as a freshmen to college. For a different major. The units, taken in college, are NOT listed on her HS transcript and not counted towards HS graduation. College will provide a separate transcript. The college is accredited; it is a state university in another state.
Are these college credits disqualify my D from freshmen status? She is NOT planning to transfer them and she is not planning to continue the same major.
Is it possible not to report them?
Is it useful to report them for admission? She took 21 units, all with grade "A". Is it useful to claim a minor from college, where she got these units?
She would like to go through a typical FRESHMEN admission process, not a transfer. She is planning to apply to privates + Univ of Calif. Many thanks!
I thought Dual Enrollment didn’t count for classification of applying as a freshman, but it does come into play when listing the students “year” in school. So for example, generally you have to have 30 hours to be a sophomore, so likely your daughter would be a sophomore after one semester, if the college accepts all her credits. I’m not 100% on this though.
College classes taken while in middle or high school full time are generally not going to disqualify you from freshman admissions. With a few exceptions, so check in with admissions at schools of interest.
No, it is not possible to not report them. There is a database, and if the school checks and finds you omitted schools attended on your application, you will be rescinded.
Yes, it shows college readiness to report them. You cannot "claim" a minor. Either she graduated with something or she didn't, but that's up to the school to grant, not her to claim. If she were enrolled as a degree seeking student or received a diploma of some sort from the college, she is definitely not a freshman.
many kids are admitted with a lot more than 20 units, or 100 units without problem. no disadvantage for any amount of classes taken before high school graduation. 20 units are not that uncommon.
However - beware taking any classes after high school graduation and prior to fall college enrollment - my understanding is that doing so can affect freshman status.
Correct, depending on the school, but that would really only apply if taking a gap year. It is highly unlikely that one can take enough classes in one summer to have an effect of freshman status. But at that point, since a college selection has been made, double check with the school.
My daughter was in a similar situation, and was accepted as a Freshman, with Freshman scholarships, to the colleges she applied to (all public colleges). With her college courses plus AP credits, she entered with 120 credits… she is a “senior” by credit hours, but a freshman by other measures.
When we checked with several of the colleges, they all said that she will be considered a Freshman if she took the college classes prior to graduating high school. So don’t take any summer classes after high school graduation! But do check with each college you are considering, to make sure you understand their rules.
By the way, it is not “Dual Enrollment” if it does not appear on the high school transcript. It is “Concurrent Enrollment”.
Every admission office that i contacted, of every colleges with that information on its website, when asked, said such student should still apply as a freshman if the courses were taken before high school graduation, even if the student had earned an associate degree.
If op is asking if those units will make it easier to eventually get a minor, it depends on college, and a clear yes for UC campuses.
My kids took concurrent enrollment classes while in HS. (20+ quarter credits) Classes are not on HS transcript or part of HS requirements.
In my experience, your D will be a freshman applicant. She will be required to report all classes and grades from both HS and college which will be used to review her academic performance. even though the classes are not on her HS transcript. This is not optional.
For California publics you self report all schools and grades. If admitted and accept, you then send all transcripts.
You list both HS and colleges attended on the private school application. You will also have you submit the transcripts from all schools. Our HS sent the HS transcript. I then had to order the college transcript to be sent separately.
She doesn’t get to choose what’s transferable or not. She’ll report all classes and the school will determine. If those classes are not part of her education plans, she will take the classes needed to fulfill her degree requirements and graduate with extra credits.
The extra credits may give her advanced standing which may give her as advantages during registration.
It’s not “taking” classes, but matriculating to (enrolled in) a program leading to a degree. You can learn how UC sees it by looking through the UCOP web info. “A transfer applicant has been enrolled in a regular session at a college or university after high school.”
Also, UCOP calls DE and “concurrent” baiscally the same thing. And also that summer classes are an exception.
So, OP you can see you ned to go to the source.
My daughter will have 19 dual enrollment classes for a total of 61 credits. She is a senior and has been accepted into college as a freshman at 4 schools thus far. In generic terms from visiting colleges etc she will be a freshman with advanced credit standing. One college specifically told my daughter that even though credit wise she will be way over a certain amount she still has to take a freshman orientation type 1 credit class required of all freshman.
My daughter’s credits from college are listed on her high school transcript to an extend. For instance it says dual enrollment English and grade. However my daughter had to request and bring the high school guidance counselor a sealed envelope with the official college transcript. The guidance counselor entered it on naviance. She will have to do it again as soon as this semester’s transcript is available (next week is finals week). After the spring semester my daughter can submit it directly to the college she will be attending.
As to credits counting towards a minor I think that once you get accepted into a college and have the college transcript officially evaluated and know what is being accepted for what if you meet the minor requirements after that you can declare the minor.
Some colleges have a way of checking which college credits they accept from another college. It is often found on the transfer section. The name varies but I’ve seen transfer equivalency calculator, transfer dictionary etc. For instance one college may not give credit for business law, another may give credit for the business law class, another may just give elective credit.
Some students start their freshman year at UC with junior standing, and graduate early, take lots of graduate courses, heavily focus on research, etc etc.
One thing to keep in mind for kids who might someday consider law school is that dual enrollment classes get factored in to GPA calculation for law school admissions even when they were not used for credit at the student’s college. That often comes as a surprise to applicants when law school application time comes around.
True (and for medical school as noted in #14). But that may be an advantage for the student described by the OP who has all A grades in the college courses taken while in high school.
^ Big and sometimes surprising advantage for those who with many CC credits with (nearly) all A’s and then later chose harshly grading undergraduate school and/or major.
That is often the published policy of a college. HOWEVER, when I individually asked to schools with such policy, every single admission office said that community college courses taken before high school graduation (of regular age) do not prevent freshman admission to their school, no matter what was the enrollment status and how many associate’s degrees were earned.
Matriculating to a 4 years college or getting a bachelor’s degree would be a different matter, even if it was before high school graduation.
When I was looking at the policies, I found a few colleges that even considered students with fewer than 20-26 credits to be freshmen, even if those credits were taken after high school graduation. Way back in my own educational life, I needed to transfer and one of the state schools wouldn’t consider freshmen transfers, requiring 26 credits to transfer.
Sometimes, the minimum threshold for transfer admission is greater than the maximum threshold for frosh admission. For example, UCs in California disqualify from frosh admission a student who takes any college courses after the summer immediately after high school graduation but requires that the student complete at least 60 semester units (junior standing) by the time of transfer: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/transfer/minimum-requirements/index.html