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Warning- Rant/Dual Enrollment/AP/SAT II questions-what to take


rockala
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Okay, I am still feeling overwhelmed at all we should accomplish to fair well when college times come. I think I figured out the testing and we will take the Act this spring, the practice PSAT this fall (sophmore) and then the real PSAT the following OCT (junior) followed by the real SAT, spring.

 

It is having an SAT II and/or getting an AP done by junior year that seems cumbersome. So I thought maybe we should just do dual enrollment which will look good to and eliminate the other complications.

 

But now this .5 credit things messes that up and I am lost again. See, I was thinking maybe I should put dd in a foreign lang at a cc this fall as I know some colleges she is looking at want 3 years foreign lanquage. But, from what I've read she may only get .5 credit for a semester college class!

 

that means she would have to take 6 semesters to have 3 years FL, that does not sound like a good idea. Am I missing something or how are all your kids completing all this work with AP and SAT II. My dd and I feel overwhelmed and we really do love Apologia and I do not want to lose that. math is ok, but not her strongest.

 

My dd loves the online Honors Apologia Biology and her grades are tops, but I hear we would have to take Fearfully and Wonderfully made to pass an Ap/SAt II, which we would do 12th grade-to late to put down for college applications when she finishes. And are both tests equally difficult- looked at the same?

 

I guess maybe I just need to accept we need to lower our college standards as we are overwhelmed -if not and I am missing something, please show me.

 

Kathy

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In Washington state, we have a program where high school juniors and seniors can enroll in cc and get dual credit. A 5 credit class at cc is considered (by law) to be equal to a 1 year high school course. Most academic courses are 5 credits per term, so one term at the cc is considered 1 year at the high school.

 

So foreign language courses have 3-4 levels, with level one (one quarter) being equal to a first year high school course, level two to the second and so forth. My point is that as far as I know, three terms of a foreign language at a college is generally acknowledged to be equivalent to three years at a high school.

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First - I completely understand the stress and frustration you are feeling. I can clearly remember being in the same boat a few years ago. One day you will look back and know that all your hard work (and stress) was well worth it! :001_smile:

 

Based upon a lot of research, I believe that the norm for CC credits (not in every school system -- but in most) is that one CC class is equivalent to one year's high school class. That is what I used for my ds's transcript, and that was totally accepted by the five schools he applied to. I cannot imagine how a high school can give one full credit to a semester-long "block" class (if you are familiar with the block system) and not give one full credit to a semester-long CC class. So for foreign language, 3 semesters would equal 3 years.

 

If your regional or state school system has a different way of calculating credits, and you are planning to apply to a state school, I would attend an admissions presentation (they are conducted all the time -- in many cases daily), and then ask the CC-credit question during the Q & A. I'm certain that all colleges have their own "take" on CC classes, and will be able to answer immediately the .5 vs 1 credit question for you.

 

The schools that my ds applied to liked AP and CC equally; however, some out-of-state/private colleges were less inclined to give credit for CC classes than they were for AP classes. So, that's another question to ask when you visit prospective colleges (it's not too early to inquire, so you can make CC/AP decisions/adjustments).

 

Good luck with all of your testing plans. We found that one year of science was not enough to perform well on the SAT II/AP chemistry tests. A second year of advanced chem (for us it was at the CC) made a huge difference. But don't take my word for it. If your dd is doing well in biology, check out a Princeton Review SAT II test prep book and have her take a practice test. That will give you a good indication of her score potential. We found that the practice tests in the Princeton Review SAT II Chem test prep book were pretty indicative of the score that my ds ended up with after taking Apologia's chemistry class (the first one). His score was respectable, but not stellar. After taking advanced chem, his score was much, much higher.

 

We learned from that that the advice to take an SAT II right after taking the class in high school comes with the caveat that one year of hs might not be enough to score well.

 

Best of luck to you!

~Brigid

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The high school we are zoned for only gives 1/2 credit for a cc class. They are on the block system, and like Brigid in NC, I can't understand this.

 

One possibility they do it this way is to discourage kids from dual enrolling.... fewer kids at the cc = more kids in the AP classes (for those bragging rights!) = more butts in the school's seats= more state/fed money.

 

I fully intend to count my kids' cc courses as a full year credit.

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