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If your child completed majority of high school through dual enrollment/CC..


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My daughter really wants to get the majority of her high school credit through dual enrollment. At our CC, she is not allowed to do that until next year (11th grade) and she is only allowed to take 2 cc classes per semester. She wants to take 2 cc classes here and do the others online if possible. My question is this:

 

1. Did your child complete majority of high school through a CC college or dual enrollment program?

 

2.Did they take any of the cc/dual enrollment classes online?

 

3. Did it hurt them in any way regarding transferring to the college they wanted to get into or gaining admittance to the major?

 

4. Did it limit them in scholarships?

 

Thanks in advance for all your help !

Edited by iluvmy4blessings
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My daughter is currently a full time college student via our state's dual enrollment program. Before we choose this route, we talked to several college admissions directors, and can share what I've learned.

 

Our state has a program that pays for college classes for academically qualified high school juniors and seniors. Our plan is for her to attend full time this year and next. She's currently a month into school and LOVES it.

 

Before opting to go full-time, we called or emailed the admissions departments of the schools that she's most interested in attending. In all cases, she will still be considered an entering freshman, regardless of how many units she completes over these two years, because the work was done prior to high school graduation. For those schools, it won't impact her merit aid potential.

 

According to the admissions directors we spoke to, it also will not affect her admission into her major, however, she may be required to retake some math and science classes. That's fine with us. They said that completion of dual enrollment work would actually enhance her application because she's already proven herself capable of college level work.

 

A handful of public universities would consider her a transfer student. But since merit aid at public universities tends to be less anyway, we're not concerned. There are only two public universities that she plans on applying to, and both understand our state's dual enrollment program.

 

We opted to take the two free years of undergraduate education, and pass on applying to any school that would consider her a transfer student as a result of dual enrollment.

 

I'd really suggest talking to the admissions folks at the schools your child is interested in. There's really no substitute from hearing directly from them.

 

Edited to add: My daughter specifically chose NOT to do online classes. She prefers face to face discussion and lecture.

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1. Did your child complete majority of high school through a CC college or dual enrollment program?

 

2.Did they take any of the cc/dual enrollment classes online?

 

3. Did it hurt them in any way regarding transferring to the college they wanted to get into or gaining admittance to the major?

 

4. Did it limit them in scholarships?

 

1. Yes, my dd took four concurrent enrollment cc courses in 10th grade, and 11 cc courses in 11th grade. She was considered a regular cc student for the courses she took while in 11th grade. We had to pay for those credits, but she had no limitations on the number of credits she could take as a regular cc student, allowing her to be there full time. It was a better option for her.

 

2. I think she took all the courses at the cc campus, not online.

 

3. No, it helped. She had so many credits by the end of 11th grade that we just let her graduate a year early. She was accepted as a transfer student to the university of her choice, and was accepted into her major. All her cc credits transferred to the university. (We had some concerns about that since it was an out of state university with different course requirements than our state universities, but it was not a problem at all.)

 

4. It did not hurt her scholarship opportunities at all. My dd was awarded a 100% tuition transfer scholarship to the out of state university. This was a merit scholarship based solely on her cc GPA.

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I guess it depends on what state you live in? Here, they say that she can only take 2 classes per semester. I'm wondering if Texas says she can only take 2 dual credits in CC, would that keep her from taking others online? Would they not count them b/c there is some law in Texas saying she can only take 2?

Edited by iluvmy4blessings
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Our experience parallels SailMom.

 

Both dd did cc almost exclusively after 9th grade. Dd#1 had her AA @ 18, dd#2 was 2 classes shy. It didn't hamper them at all. Both stayed in-state, but #1 went to a private & #2 is at a state school. All the credits transferred & both were considered "freshman w/credit" as far as any aid went. Both did all their classes in person.

 

FYI: I've heard from ps parents who's dc have applied to U of F (which is considered a selective school) that they prefer applicants take the entry level classes like Freshman Comp at the cc. I'm sure it helps the overcrowding & retention numbers for them, but it also proves that an applicant can actually do the college level work.

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I guess it depends on what state you live in? Here, they say that she can only take 2 classes per semester. I'm wondering if Texas says she can only take 2 dual credits in CC, would that keep her from taking others online? Would they not count them b/c there is some law in Texas saying she can only take 2?

 

We're in Houston. Our local cc (Lone Star) has a policy of 2 classes per semester for high school students, but they allow more by "special permission," which seems to be somewhat of a formality. To get the special permission, we had to meet with the admissions director, who reviewed dd's homeschool transcript (Word document made by me), and her existing Lone Star transcript (Spanish I taken the previous semester), and allowed her to register for 4 classes.

 

So you might want to ask who to see about waiving the 2-class requirement.

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I guess it depends on what state you live in? Here, they say that she can only take 2 classes per semester. I'm wondering if Texas says she can only take 2 dual credits in CC, would that keep her from taking others online? Would they not count them b/c there is some law in Texas saying she can only take 2?

 

Nope, no law. I am in Texas. My 9th grader is currently taking dual credit. Only 11th graders are supposed to be able to do it. But if they take the entrance exam and do well, and write a letter explaining why you wish to do it, then they let you in. Lots of parents have done it here at Kilgore College. Once again, you can take more classes if you get special permission. You have to learn who to ask. There are some at the college that seem quite rude to homeschoolers and some who have been extremely helpful. My boys that are 9th and 11th are taking Spanish and Racquetball. I thought that would be a good introduction. My 11th grader is also doing AP Government and AP Chemistry online through PA Homeschoolers. I personally know friends whose children started as a 9th grader and have earned tons of credit pretty much going full time their last year.

 

I wanted to ease mine into it. My oldest will be a STEM major so I will not have him take Calculus or Physics there. My middle one will not and I plan for h

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Consider taking CLEP tests along with dual enrollment. (Or, depending on your daughter's age, before! There is no age requirement for credit-by-exam.) Sometimes, community college courses transfer as "elective credit" whereas credit-by-exam, if accepted, usually has course equivalencies. Course equivalencies are preferable because they can count as prerequisites for higher level courses.

 

Another benefit is that credit-by-exam usually doesn't factor in to tuition surcharge calculations (NC has a 50% tuition surcharge at state universities for students earning more than 140 credits in a 4-yr program.)

 

At our local community college, you can earn an AA with 43 credits from credit by exam and 21 credits in residence. Credit-by-exam is a good way to get placed into higher-level math at the community college, too. The placement tests they use (ours uses Accuplacer) seems to max-out at Pre-Calculus. If you want to start at Calculus at our community college, you can do so by passing the Pre-Calc CLEP.

 

Speaking of Accuplacer, I know many students who didn't study for the Accuplacer and are now trapped in a long series of remedial math courses. Passing a math CLEP exam would allow them to sklp all that.

 

More about CLEP and high school here:

http://degreeplanners.com/?Welcome_to_DegreePlanners:Homeschool_Students:Earn_College_Credit_in_HS

Edited by Sandra in NC
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We live in Florida and 11th and 12th grade students are allowed to take only 2 DE classes at the comm college (whether physically in the classrooom or onlline) per semester. That is, the state of Florida will pay for only 2 DE classes per semester.

 

The reality is our daughter took more than 2 per semester, and we parents paid, out-of-pocket, for those adidtional classes.

 

Our dd took some comm college classes in the actual classroom, while also doing online courses through another comm coll in another state (Clovis in New Mexio--regionally accredited and very, very cheap)!--while simultaneously doing correspondence courses through University of Idaho.

 

Not only that, dd studied for and passed several CLEP courses.

 

ALL of the above ^^--classroom, online, correspondence, self-study (CLEP)--were transferable and accepted by the colleges to which dd applied.

 

Important: after completing high school and graduating dd could have gone in to college as a transfer student, but every college told dd to apply as a FTIC (First Time in College) student; essentially, a Freshman with lots of college credits under her belt. Going in as a Freshman made dd eligible for many more scholarships and dd earned an additional 4K per year in scholarships, just by calling herself a Freshman. However, credit-wise she will be a Junior after Christmas, and she can graduate in 2 years (in other words, she bypasses her Sophomore year).

Edited by distancia
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We live in Florida and 11th and 12th grade students are allowed to take only 2 DE classes at the comm college (whether physically in the classrooom or onlline) per semester. That is, the state of Florida will pay for only 2 DE classes per semester.

 

 

I think your cc led you astray or is really over crowded & trying to limit de students. Our cc has no limit on de credit hours & they just have to be past 9th grade & place into the college level classes. We didn't pay for anything but books for both dd's classes & they were taking full loads.

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1. Did your child complete majority of high school through a CC college or dual enrollment program?

Sort of. They took classes at the community college as college students, not dual-enrolled high school students (an option at some c.c. in California). We did c.c. instead of high school.

 

2.Did they take any of the cc/dual enrollment classes online?

No.

 

3. Did it hurt them in any way regarding transferring to the college they wanted to get into or gaining admittance to the major?

In California, c.c. graduates/transfer students are guaranteed to be admitted into CalState or UofCA schools, ahead of high school grads. So, no, it didn't hurt them; it was, in fact, a great benefit. Older dd did not apply to private colleges, though (younger dd decided not to pursue a 4yr degree at that time).

 

4. Did it limit them in scholarships?

Dd didn't apply for any scholarships. She worked her way through college as a hair stylist, a career she had also acquired through the c.c. system (cosmetologist, in addition to her AA.).

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I second the suggestion of taking CLEPs. There is another one called DANTES/DSST that is very similar, except you can receive a grade depending on the test and some are upper level credits. My ds just took another one this morning on The Civil War and got 3 of those upper level credits (not lower level ones, which are the ones CC gives out). He also got an A added to his transcript! I think it took him an hour to complete the test (but, of course, many more in studying for it). :D

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