Pros and Cons of dual enrollment

[Holly IN]

We are looking into this for high school. I am trying to really get to the nitty gritty details of the pros and cons for doing this.

 

I am talking about high school and CC enrollment.

Holly

[Sandy in Indy]

My ds is taking his first course at CC this semester. I think it's going to be a great intro to college for him. It certainly is a lot less expensive than tuition at other schools. However, I think you must be careful not to accumulate too many credits IF financial aid is a concern. (Or in his case, the major he wants to pursue.) For instance, at Butler (where my ds will apply to pharmacy school), you can only have less than 12 hours of college credit or you are considered a transfer student rather than an incoming freshman. That's something to consider.

[Pamela H in Texas]

The transfer/freshman thing depends on the school. The school my daughter is going to considers a person a freshman regardless of credits they will transfer in. Those credits transfer in after they START school. So they might jump from being a Freshman in semester 1 to being a Junior in semester 2, for example.

 

Anyway, so check into the colleges you're interested in.

 

On thing CC or Univ classes can do is show that your homeschooler truly can handle college level work. Of course, there are other ways to show your mommy-made transcript is legit also, such as SAT II's, AP courses, CLEP exams, co-op or school-based classes, etc.

[Barb_]

The transfer/freshman thing depends on the school. The school my daughter is going to considers a person a freshman regardless of credits they will transfer in. Those credits transfer in after they START school. So they might jump from being a Freshman in semester 1 to being a Junior in semester 2, for example.

 

Yes, more often than not, college credits taken before high school graduation will not push an incoming student past Freshman level. It's best to ask the individual school. My oldest was accepted as a Freshman at ASU, moved into Freshman dorms, and received Freshman scholarships. But as soon as her credits were tallied, she was pushed up a second-sememster sophomore. It's the best of both worlds, really, because she still has 4 years of scholarship money as long as she doesn't apply for graduation, but doesn't have to suffer through stadium seating and seminar classes. Also, credits are usually capped at (I believe) 18 for the first year, but she is able to take 21 because of her elevated status. She isn't taking 7 3-credit courses, BTW. She's taking 4 academic courses, 2 required 1-credit intro courses, a couple of 1-credit labs, and 2 dance classes. She wouldn't have been allowed to take the dance classes as a Freshman because there wouldn't have been room in her schedule, which would have been a shame. She needs the exercise and an outside dance school is expensive. As it is, she's getting her dance for free.

 

Barb

[Holly IN]

hhmm that is alot to think about...

 

Ok another question:

 

If he takes math classes at the CC, will he be able to skip those at the college level when he gets there?

 

Holly

[hsmamainva]

Always check with the college(s) to which your student is planning on applying because every experience can be different!

 

My oldest daughter is a senior and is now in her 2nd year at the community college. She loves it!!

 

We live in a state where she can take classes at the high school as a homeschooler. She tried this at the beginning of 9th grade and didn't even finish the semester. She just could NOT relate to the students. She said that most of them didn't want to be there, could care less about their education, had no plans to go to college, and didn't like to read or to study. She was the only freshman in her Algebra I class. Most of them were sophmores, juniors, and even seniors, taking it for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time. Her honors English class read 3 books the entire semester, and they were books that she'd read in 7th and 8th grade.

 

So I would really look at the local high school in your area before going this route!!!

 

She took her community college placement tests at 15 and started taking classes. She has loved all of her classes, and all of her professors. She's met some GREAT young people!! (Most of the students there are between 18 and 23 because she takes classes during the day; if she were there at night, I'm sure the average age would go up a great deal due to the fact that many of them would be working adults).

 

She's completed 13 credits so far, with a 3.0 gpa, and she has applied to one college (with the intention of attending next fall). Her SAT scores were not that great, so the community college transcript will help her tremendously! They will not consider her a transfer student, even though she'll have 25 credits by the time she graduates this spring, because they were taken before she graduated from high school (and before she reached the age of 18). However, she won't have to take many of the intro classes, such as freshman English, because of her cc credits. (Most in-state colleges will have a transfer guide so you can match up the cc classes with the freshman required classes to make sure they will be accepted).

[Holly IN]

Going to public high school route is out of the question :001_smile: even as a homeschool student. We homeschool to keep them out of there. That is why we are looking into CC dual enrollment.

 

We will contact the colleges to see what they offer. I know at IUPUI they offer homeschool students dual enrollment called running start or the span. Where you get a credit from IUPUI and a high school credit or just getting a college credit while in high school.

 

ONe thing that is a hindrance in re: to our oldest is that he has no clue what he wants to do. So we will be doing career direct from Crown as a jumping point.

 

Thanks!

Holly

[Chris in VA]

My son is already 18, but only starting his sr year of hi sch. We tallied up his credits and decided to let him graduate in Dec. He's taking 2 CC classes this fall. For him, it's a good intro to college expectations. No one is holding his hand, telling him to learn such and such. He has to take good notes, because not everything is in the book. He has to study, not just do the assignments--I can tell he's struggling with knowing what to do, as I watch him try to translate Spanish that the teacher hasn't covered, but expected him to learn thru the book, on his own. There are certain "college culture" assumptions he doesn't know he has to make--such as, "read Section 3" means know Section 2, also! It's been an interesting first week of CC for him!

 

I agree that you must check with the Universities you are looking into, as far as what transfers and how it would change a schedule to plug-in CC classes. OUr son probably won't graduate earlier because his CC courses will take the place of the electives scheduled in the University's curriculum--so he'll just have a lighter schedule, not get out earlier. Taking the credits at CC also probably won't save us much $, because any credits over 12 hours (at the University, that is) are essentially free--Full time tuition is for any amt over 12 credits, so taking 15-18 costs the same as taking 12.

(Does that make sense?)

 

But I am glad not to be primarily responsible for Spanish and Psychology! And, I can give him a gentler intro to the logistics of college this way, which he needs.

[threetreasurs]

My son took classes at the CC in place of AP classes and it was a good experience for him. That said, I am not sure that it is a better environment than public high school.

[MaryM]

Our ds is 14 and just started his first college course so I don't have any real experience to report regarding the actual class BUT I can tell you that there is a need to dig into the particulars of the classes you do want your dc to take. We found that in trying to get a science class that was as challenging as any he had already had in high school, it was important to look at the book and syllabus and the teacher! We had originally tried for college chem but upon digging, it turned out that the "college" class was taught at the high school, using a one semester chemistry book over two semesters and taught by the high school teacher providing the students with AP and dual credit. This course was not going to be as rigorous as the high school chem ds had already completed. Ditto for the physics and calculus courses....

 

Now, this is no doubt a particular problem with this college (branch of the university) in the science and math areas. That said, the history and literature courses were taught by PhD's with strong CV's and using college level material and taught at the college!

 

All this to say, investigate the details of the courses and assume nothing! And this doesn't even address some of the inappropriate material that others have found at colleges in the lit areas...

 

HTH,

 

Mary

[FloridaLisa]

Ok another question:

 

If he takes math classes at the CC, will he be able to skip those at the college level when he gets there?

 

 

The answer may depend on what math classes he takes, what college he goes to for his 4-yr degree and what his major will be. You just need to poke around on college websites or call admissions at the colleges where your dc may attend.

 

For example, my ds is taking Pre-Calc and Spanish I at our community college. He wants to pursue medicine and the website of one of his top choices specifically states they do not want transfer students taking the physics or chemistry sequence at the community college. His math *should* work right into this university's required math sequence. The Spanish credit shouldn't be problem to transfer since it's completely outside of his major.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[Alyce]

My dd started taking CC classes when she turned 16. At first she took classes that we knew would be easy but let her get her feet wet. She knew where she wanted to go to school so I checked their website. In NC dual-enrollment is free but you must buy books and just about everything transfers to our colleges. When I checked the website I was able to find out what courses the college of choice required for the first two years. They also had her CC listed with the matching College course. By doing that she's been able to fulfill a semesters worth of college and it will all transfer. Now that experience may not be there but it's worth looking at. It made our job so much easier. I think the big point is that CC classes can be a big plus but you do need to check out the colleges the student is considering applying for and what their policy about CC is.

[G5052]

I've been a part-time CC professor for nine years now, and have had a lot of homeschoolers over the years in both my classroom and online courses.

 

I'd start out slow with one course they're going to excel in unless they've had prior classroom experience with deadlines. It's an adjustment for most homeschooled kids, and you want it to be a confidence-booster. I've failed a few homeschooled kids where were very behind in the content before the course started and/or really weren't ready for a college-level class with deadlines. Several of them just shut down and gave up trying in the first month, and you don't want that. I also know of several families locally who loaded up their homeschooled kids right away with 3-4 college classes, and the kids really tanked the first semester because it was just too much at once to prepare for amid adjustments to the college pace. Thankfully they did better the next semester, but the parents told me that they wished that they had started out slower.

 

I'll note too that every kid is different. The campus I work for just graduated a homeschooled valdictorian who was 18 and who used the college for most of her homeschool high school credits too. She took one class at 15, and then dove in!