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How many college credits during high school


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Most of the schools my son looked at considered him a freshman as long as all his college credits were taken while a high school student and that he didn't have any degrees. Between AP and college classes, he received nearly 50 hours of credit. Only 2 of the classes didn't actually replace any classes on campus.

 

ETA: This is definitely an "ask the college" kind of question because others have had different answers.

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As others have said, it's going to vary, so check with the school. There is no rule, despite what you'll sometimes see people insist.

 

My daughter currently has 33 credits and has already been accepted to engineering programs at two schools. Both are considering her an incoming freshman, and neither have any restrictions on how many units she can have when she graduates high school.

 

In fact, none of the schools she is applying to will consider her a transfer student, regardless of the number of units she has. Some will restrict the amount of credit she can transfer in, but that's not a concern for us, because it wasn't the reason we pursued dual enrollment.

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Most colleges/universities don't have a limit for courses taken while in high school. We've come across one and I think the limit was 30 before being considered a transfer student. Unless it was the student's top choice school, I wouldn't consider limiting the number based on that. The benefits far outweigh the elimination of a school or two.

Edited by Teachin'Mine
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It really does depend on the college.

 

The engineering school my ds2 attends accepts NO credits from anywhere. (BTW, after listening to ds talk about his classes, there is good reason for this rule!) One kid in his class already has a B.S. from another engineering school, and he just started like all the other freshmen.

 

The school my older two attended accepted NO credits from CC, no matter what, so it wouldn't matter if you had an Associates -- you would still start out as a first semester freshman.

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Thanks, I'll look for the other discussion, too. Our state just changed the rule so that homeschoolers are eligible for the funding to pay for dual enrollment. Dd is not the math or science lover, so I'm thinking of at least having her take her 4th math and science her senior year in hopes that she wouldn't have to do anymore in college. She could also take English next year and possibly her American history.

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I'm curious. What is the university. All the ones around here have no limit at all.

 

We came across a few, but just dropped them off our list. I believe the UCs still restrict the number of credits you can have as a freshman applicant, but California has a ridiculously restrictive policy for high school dual enrollment anyway.

 

The colleges with the most restrictive polices seem to be located in states that severely restrict dual enrollment for high school students anyway.

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I'm curious. What is the university. All the ones around here have no limit at all.

 

I don't think the Academies care if, what or how many college classes you had taken previously. They certainly didn't when I was there. Of course, you will be there all four years anyway, you'll just have more electives if you can test out of some things.

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Thanks, I'll look for the other discussion, too. Our state just changed the rule so that homeschoolers are eligible for the funding to pay for dual enrollment.

 

Our oldest, 11th grade, is doing dual enrollment this year in GA. Yes, Accel funding is now available for independent homeschoolers! Another great change is that Accel hours are no longer being deducted from total HOPE hours. It used to be that the GA lottery scholarships funded 127 credit hours total. If you did any dual enrollment and used Accel funding, those credit hours were deducted from what was available to you later under HOPE. That changed in spring 2011, so ACCEL hours are now available on top of your 127 hours for HOPE. That's a great deal!

 

Several of our friends here in GA have used dual enrollment in years past when it was a self-pay system for homeschoolers. Several of them accumulated large amounts of credit (45-60hrs) and not one of them had an issue with getting credits accepted or being treated as a transfer student. Any public college/university in GA should be fine. I know that Alabama, LSU, Clemson, and Auburn are also fine. I believe that Mercer and Furman are as well. The students I mentioned were accepted at these schools (including GA Tech which is notoriously difficult for homeschoolers) and offered freshman scholarships and the transfer of all credits earned.

 

Our dd is taking 6 credits this fall and doing great. She plans to take 11 in the spring and be at the uni. pretty much full time for her senior year. It should give her a nice jump start!

 

The changes to the Accel program have brought about some increase in costs/fees however. When we went to an orientation last year we were quoted much lower out of pocket costs than what we've actually experienced. So we have had a bit of sticker shock. This might vary some from school to school, but here at Augusta State (soon to be Georgia Regents) we are paying $320 per semester of tuition/fees not covered by Accel. Classes with a lab (science, some f/l) also incur a lab fee not covered. The book allowance was dropped from Accel so we've had to pay all of that as well. It's pricier than I remember and saving by buying used/online hasn't been helpful as both classes dd is taking require 6 month online access web subscriptions which are $$. I'd honestly estimate our costs this semester at close to $700 total for the two courses. Next semester I expect book costs to be higher. The girl that my dd is commuting with spent $450 this semester on books alone for her three courses, yikes!

 

Still, I'm glad that we're able to do this for dd. She is thriving and enjoying it. I love the idea of her getting some college experience while still being able to live at home.

 

If you've got a 10th grader I'd begin making sure they are well prepared for the SAT or ACT. The threshold scores for dual enrollment at our local uni. are much higher than those for general admission. It's on the tough side for a 10th grader to hit, particularly if they aren't accelerated in math. We were down to the wire in the spring trying to get it done. With my next child we'll be prepping earlier so there is less pressure to hit the mark on the first test. Many kids here aren't able to hit the scores needed until their junior year and thus don't dual enroll until they are seniors.

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I don't think the Academies care if, what or how many college classes you had taken previously. They certainly didn't when I was there. Of course, you will be there all four years anyway, you'll just have more electives if you can test out of some things.

 

There is no limit to the number of credits someone can have coming into USNA. USNA Course Validation Policy. Credits do not affect the fact that all first year students are freshmen/plebes or that all students must do four years at USNA. (Lots of validation can help a student get into the honors program, become a Trident Scholar, enter the VGEP program - to start working on a masters degree while a midshipman, or to double major or earn both a major and a minor - usually the minor would be in a language.)

 

It is possible to validate courses, using AP exam scores or through interviews/exams. Some departments want to see a copy of the syllabus for the course that was previously taken.

 

One of my roommates had done a year at Stanford before coming to USNA.

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