AP or dual enrollment?

[momofkhm]

Looking to next year to beef up dd's transcript. We've already told her that we will look into AP English and possibly history but would taking them dual enrolled be better or the same in terms of college acceptance? I remember an acquaintance saying something about not spending the money on the AP and still getting the credit by dual enrolling. Is one better than the other? Of course I don't know that she will score high enough on the exam to test out of something. She could but will she study enough?

[Gwen in VA]

That's a personal call, but here are some of the factors we have used to decide when to use dual enrollment and when to use AP --

 

1) Rigor. I know that CC's vary widely, but ours is considered decent and the classes are still painfully ridiculously easy -- even classes like calculus and calculus-based physics! In our experience, the AP classes are much more rigorous. (Again, I know that the rigor of CC classes varies widely)

 

2) Convenience -- When my oldest didn't have her license and the CC was a 35 minute drive away, we decided NOT to do CC. Her CC classes would have disrupted the entire family. Online AP classes were much more convenient at that time. Now a CC campus has opened up fairly close to us, so the equation is quite different.

 

3) How much the kid thrives on tests. The AP exam score is determined by a one-shot test. Any kid who does not like tests, gets seriously stressed by tests, or routinely doesn't test up to his/her ability may be better off going the CC route.

 

4) What college your kid is looking at. Some colleges accept CC credits; some don't. Some colleges accept AP credits; some don't. If earning college credit is important to you, talk to the colleges your child is seriously considering to find out which route would be more likely to gain college credits.

 

5) I have been told by multiple colleges that they like to see homeschoolers have at least one "real" outside class so that the ad cons can see that the homeschooler can thrive in an academic environment outside the home. However, homeschoolers have gotten into all kinds of colleges without outside classes......

 

6) Finances. The cost of CC vs the cost of AP depends on how your state handles dual enrollment, etc. Do remember to add in the cost of the AP test ($85) into the costs.

[K-FL]

For us, de was better. It's free (except books) and the credits transfer w/in the state system. U of FL, which is considered a selective school, requires SATIIs for classes such as English and For. Lang (F.L) so you're better off taking them at the cc and avoiding that additional cost. Plus the 1yr of cc F.L covers the 2yrs of hs level you need, plus the 1yr of U level needed for most majors.

[Miss Marple]

Gwen gave you a great list of criteria to use. For us, DE was the best option. Credits transfer, tuition is free (which works out to about 1/2 regular cost), and the state schools look more favorably on DE credits than on AP. I'm not exactly thrilled by the level of rigor, but I hope we are accomplishing more than just course material. After my first went to university, I talked with him about how AP and DE was looked on by the various counselors he had. They all preferred DE because it showed them how the student was able to perform in a college level class. They also liked the fact that the students seem to need less time to orient to college courses since they are already familiar with the routine.

 

I have heard, though, that many of the private colleges like to see AP credits...so you would need to check out any potential colleges to which your student might apply.

[Barbara H]

Will she be a senior next year? If so, one thing to consider is that first semester college grades will be back by the time she applies to college. The AP tests aren't until May so she won't have her scores back when she's applying.

[creekland]

Every college we've asked has told us they prefer to see AP over DE for the content level. Pitt (state related school) told us it didn't matter for credit. Alabama (state school) has also offered credit for DE (even though in person the prof we talked with said they preferred AP content-wise).

 

A couple of the privates won't offer credit for DE, but will for AP. U of Rochester comes to mind.

 

If heading toward med or vet school, DO NOT take pre-req courses at the cc and beware that ANY science class taken at the cc will count toward their science GPA. Any class will count toward their overall GPA.

 

Otherwise... my oldest did just one DE class and had no issues from the three colleges he applied to and got decent merit aid from his private Christian LAC.

 

Middle son took one AP test (got a 5) and 3 DE classes (all As) and has done well so far with college apps and merit aid (accepted to Pitt, Alabama, and Baylor all with merit aid - still waiting on U of Rochester, Wash U in St Louis, and Furman).

 

DE is easier to do around here as there are few AP options for testing. That said, if I had it to do over again, I'd have gone the AP route more heavily.

 

Just musing as I type, so sorry if it reads that way! :tongue_smilie: