HS/Dual-Credit Question

[momteaches2]

I'm not sure which direction to lead my son (an upcoming junior) for his dual-credit selections. He tested into College Algebra and English Comp/Rhetoric. This gives him the ability to take any freshman-level class next year. He can take one course in the fall and one in the spring (college rules). So, here's my dilemma...

 

He is probably going to take College Algebra one of those semesters. That's great!

 

For the other class, his choices are...

English

Government

History

Anthropology

Biology

 

We are switching to TOG next year which will/could cover Lit/English, history, and government. That would leave him with Anthro or Biology at the college. The adviser is concerned about whether the college he wants to transfer to will accept the biology credit if he chooses a science major (which he's leaning toward).

 

So, should I let him take one of the TOG subjects (maybe government?) or take a second math (which he will need to take the higher level sciences if that's the path he chooses)?

 

He could also take a business class or foreign language if he wants, but he's not sure he wants to do either of those. So, I'm not sure what the best path is. Is there a 'best' path? :confused::001_huh:

[Kareni]

Given his intention to become a science major, I'd have him take a second math course at the college.

 

Just my opinion ...

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Laurie4b]

What is his/your goal for taking the class? for the courses to transfer to a university? For the courses to add to his transcript? For the courses to prepare him for the university?

 

For instance, if your goal was #3, having a cc level college course under his belt might set him up well for success at the university whether they accepted the credit or not. If the goal is #1, then find out which courses are most likely to transfer and choose one of those.

[Miss Marple]

We have always chosen to use the university dual enrollment option to cover those courses that would be too time consuming for me to teach at home (higher level maths, foreign language). We are lucky in that we can take more than one course so we have been able to fit in a lot of gen. eds. as well as electives.

 

Personally, I would enroll only in those courses that would transfer to the intended university. My ds took Spanish 1 and 2, College Algebra, Music Appreciation, and MicroComputer Applications in his junior year. This fulfilled the foreign language, mathematics, and fine arts needed for his high school diploma and the computer class is required of all freshmen in our state system. For 12th he'll take trig/Calc.1, Physics, U. S. History, and probably Freshman Comp.

 

All the courses you list are good and would be valuable. You might want to check on the professors' reputations in each course which might help narrow your options. For us, though, the main point of dual enrollment is to get those courses that I just can't accomplish at home.

[AngieW in Texas]

I don't know what would be the best for your ds, but maybe seeing the rationale for the courses my dd has signed up for will help you figure things out with your ds.

 

For my dd, there are 3 different purposes for dual credit classes:

(1) get credit for a course that she needs for high school that I can't teach her (like Japanese)

(2) explore areas to see if she's interested in them for her major

(3) get credit for a course that is part of the core curriculum and will transfer to any state school here

 

Our cc allows dual credit students to take 2 classes each semester, starting with the summer between 10th and 11th grades.

 

My dd desperately wanted to take Drawing I for her first class, but we were going to be gone for 10 days during the first summer session, so she had to find a course that was taught during second summer session (5.5 weeks). Drawing I was only availabe for full summer (11 weeks), so she had to choose something else. She ended up choosing Intro to Psychology. It would count as a high school elective and fulfill a core curriculum credit for college as well.

 

For the fall semester, she took Japanese I for her foreign language (not something I could teach her) to fulfill part of her high school requirements. She also took Drawing I. This course was something that she thought she was highly interested in because she thought she wanted to major in art, so it was an exploratory course. However, it also fulfilled a high school fine arts requirement.

 

For the spring semester, she took part 2 of the two courses she had in the fall. She learned that she is a natural at Japanese and that she doesn't want to major in art. She thinks she wants to do digital art instead.

 

For the summer, she is taking Digital Imaging I. It will count as a high school elective, but is also exploratory. She may find out that she isn't as interested in digital art as she thinks she is.

 

Our cc will allow dual credit students to take more than 2 courses each semester with the approval of the dean if they also have high enough scores on the Compass or SAT, at least a 3.5 GPA on either the high school or cc transcript, and have completed at least 12 credit hours. My dd has permission to register for 4 classes for the fall semester.

 

My dd is going to do most of her senior year at the cc. Every course she takes will fulfill a high school requirement and will also fulfill a core curriculum requirement for college (except that foreign language is only a requirement for high school). She is going to take English I, General College Physics I, Japanese III, and Elementary Statistics. She will take the next semester of each of those courses in the spring (except she'll take a different math course instead of statistics).

 

It is possible that she may take Web Design I instead of either Japanese IV or a 2nd semester of math. That would count as a high school elective and also be exploratory.

[kiana]

If he's leaning towards a science major, I'd take precalculus as well as college algebra, for sure.

[FloridaLisa]

The adviser is concerned about whether the college he wants to transfer to will accept the biology credit if he chooses a science major (which he's leaning toward).

 

One way to find out: call the admission's office! The answer may save you any angst over the other course. I found it tremendously profitable to have ds1 take chem I/II with the labs through dual enrollment.

 

Personally, I think you'll find that your dc will have a richer lit/writing experience with TOG than many dual-enrolled freshman English classes. Ds1 had a miserable class (it was all about pop culture :001_huh:), read NO classics or near classics and wrote very little. My other dc will AP out of freshman English and lit.

 

Foreign languages are another excellent dual enrollment credit because 1) it moves much faster than a hs-level class; 2) the students can engage in dialogue from day 1 and 3) it is value neutral. The latter was a huge consideration for us as we transitioned to a college campus. Again, I would call the college (he wants to transfer to) and find out whether foreign language will be necessary for admissions or his major.

 

Lisa

[Jann in TX]

College Algebra is a one semester course in high school AND college.

 

It is the first half of a Pre-Calc course.

 

The second half is Trigonometry... so I'd take that the second semester.

 

I do not recommend a one-semester Pre-Calc course for high school students who are new to that level of Math--the one-semester Pre-Calc courses are brutal and are best for review (for ex. if a student worked Pre-Calc in high school and wanted to review before taking college Calc.)

[momteaches2]

College Algebra is a one semester course in high school AND college.

 

 

Does this mean it won't count as a full high school credit to satisfy his math needs? Is it only .5 credit? His next math would be trig. You would recommend doing both of those back to back?