Dual-enrollment and effects of going to college as a freshman vs. transfer student

[Kimm in WA]

My son will be going to the CC for the next 2 yrs. as a dual-enrolled student. He's interested in pursuing the CC's engineering transfer degree. Engineering advisor says most engineering degrees are 5 yrs.

 

My question is if/how scholarships would be affected if he decided to stay the 3rd year at the CC, to get his AA, and then go on to the state university as a transfer student vs. transferring after 2 years w/o the AA (with the possibility of them picking apart the transcript and choosing what to accept), but going in a "freshman" like they can in WA.

 

Are there a lot of scholarships that are only for freshmen that he'd miss out on if he went a year later as a transfer student?

 

Thanks,

Kimm in WA

[K-FL]

In our case, dd#1 applied as a "freshman with credits" as per the admissions office. We were also told (by I can't remember who) that you're better off going in w/the AA than just w/credits for just the reason you described--selective choice. Of course, if the cc credits have to be accepted by the state U (as it is here in FL) it won't matter. Why will it take 3 yrs for the AA? Does WA not allow them to take a full class load or do you have other plans? Of course, if you look at any "how to do college on the cheap" book, they all say do as much as you can at the cc--$/hr is less, plus if you can live at home your room/board is covered.

 

My nephew will finish his civil engineering degree in Dec & yes, it is a 5 yr degree now.

[Kimm in WA]

Full-time is 12-15 credits/qtr., but in order to finish the engineering transfer degree, he would have to take 18 credits per quarter. Not sure if that's doable - we won't plan that way for the first quarter at least (or if he could take that many credits as a dual-enrolled student). Also, he's not going right into Calculus I as an 11th grader. He did pre-calc. this year but, since he's interested in engineering, rather than push the math I wanted him, at the advice of other homeschoolers I know IRL and on this board, to take College Algebra at the CC. The engineering advisor also recommended him taking the trig. there even though the prereq. for Calculus I is College Alg. & high school trig. (waiting for more clarification on why he's recommending that). Also, some classes are only offered one quarter at the CC, so if you don't have the right prerequisites, you have to wait until it comes around again.

 

Advisor says most take 3 yrs. As it's laid out, it looks like it would be 2 yrs. + 2 qtrs. regardless of some classes he could take during the summer (and us have to pay for) because of the math & science sequence.