Dual credit / College credit question...I'm stumped

[distancia]

I'm in a bind and I need some help!

 

My daughter is a high-school senior and last summer (NOT while "in school") she took 3 college classes on her own for personal enrichment. We (parents) paid for this out of our pocket. She received college credit and on her transcript, I gave her an additional "point" in her GPA. Meaning, if she received an A (4.0) in her college class, I put an A on her transcript and gave it a 5.0 credit. This is the norm for our state (and for that matter, much of the nation)

 

This past fall D took 2 more college classes, one of which was paid for by the state, as a dual-enrollment class. There was no class available in advanced Spanish for D so she had to take one online, through a college in another state. We parents had to pay out of our pocket. Again, her As in these courses earned her a 4.0 plus 1 extra point on my transcript. [Note: homeschool Honors courses were credited with a .5 extra point in weighting her GPA].

 

Now, here we are in the Spring 2011 term and D is taking a full-time college load (14 credit hours). Only one of these classes is paid for by the state as dula-enrollment. The remaining 3 college classes are taken online and through out-of-state unviersities. We are paying out of our pockets for these courses.

 

PROBLEM: D has applied to a state college which, when re-calculating GPA from a transcript, will give only .5 extra credit for a dual-enrollment course, the same as a high school honors course. They give a full point for AP courses. They say that this is because dual-enrollment courses taken inside the local high schools are NOT the equivalent of a real college class, whereas the AP classes are. [Totally untrue, because last year when my D was at public high school, her d/e course was taught by an adjunct college professor and it was really tough, while her AP class was taught by a regular 'ole teacher who gave the students an A just for showing up. But I digress]

 

Well! My daughter is not taking her dual-enrollment classes inside the local high school, she is taking them at the college level. She takes one at a local community college (drives there herself) and the remaining 3 are online and from bona fide, accredited 4-year universities in other states. I see the work she is doing and these are not slacker classes that are on the same level as an "honors" class at a mediocre public high school!

 

QUESTIONS: What, exactly, is dual-enrollment? Should I contact the college to which my D has applied (I already mailed in the transcript some time ago) and if so, what should I tell them? That MY child's college classes are different that what THEY consider a traditional dual-enrollment class inside the public high school classroom ? Should I just let this go? Thanks so much!

Edited January 29, 2011 by distancia

[FloridaLisa]

You are the second person in Florida that I've heard this from recently. When we attended a legacy conference with UF a couple of years ago, the admissions director specifically said that UF now gives a 1.0 grade bump to d/e because the legislature required it. But I'm not finding that in the statute. Perhaps I misheard, but I haven't found anything to back this up.

 

Fla. Stat. 1007.271(16) does required school districts and CCs to give the same weighting to d/e credits as they do for AP or IB classes. But this statute doesn't appear binding on state universities. Do you mind disclosing which school this is?

 

Lisa

 

ETA: Home Education Foundation has some good information on dual enrollment. Brenda Dickinson is our (very hard working) lobbyist and you might want to give her a call for clarification.

Edited January 29, 2011 by FloridaLisa

[distancia]

I pm'd/e-mailed you the name and link to the college admission's page. It is a state of Florida public school, and the only one with this "computing high-school GPA scale".

 

It seems somewhat contradictory because they will take in-state transfer students who have gone to a CC or state U (and they actually love these students; I know, I was one of them) but as far as a high-school students taking college courses, seems they don't want them.

 

If I had known this, I would have graduated my daughter (as she has been requesting all along) this past December 2010, so that on her application she would be considered a Transfer applicant, and she would have a better chance of admission. As it stands now, she is still a high school student and her dual-enrollment status reduces her GPA compared to those high-school students who have AP courses under their belts.

 

This especially does not make sense considering there are a number of applicants (I have sent you a link to a page that shows this) to this very college who have taken AP classes in public high school and have NOT passed the AP exams, scoring only 1s and 2s. My daughter's best friend is like this: she took 7? 8? 9? AP classes all throughout high school because it "looked good" on her transcript, but she didn't pass a single exam. She took AP PreCalc and earned an A in the class, but when she took the math SAT she scored a 490! [she's in remedial, non-credit math now at UCF]. So really, what is the AP class worth? Compared to my daughter's hard-earned As from both a CC and 4-year uni, and in upper-level (2000 and 3000 level] classes, no less.

 

And the odd thing is, my D has applied to other state schools here in Florida and been accepted by all into their Honors programs.

Edited January 29, 2011 by distancia

[Leonor]

Hi:

 

I sent you a pm.

 

Maury

[distancia]

Maury: in answer to your pm--

 

Actually, it is XXXXX. It, too, is a state Honors program.

 

But the fact that you have had problems with XXXXX, that I am having problems with XXXXXX, and the fact that others have had/are having problems with Florida state schools tells me that some of these state colleges and universities are NOT onboard and aware of the Fl. Statutes pertaining to homeschooling grades and transcripts.

 

There should be a common, across-the-board state standard that is used. I can understand the colleges' reluctance to unconditionally accept all As on a homeschool student's transcript if there is no proof of the grading criteria. BUT if those courses were taken at a regionally-accredited college institution, and/or the student's test scores (i.e. SAT, ACT, CLEP) reflect the subject knowledge and ability of the student, then the homeschool student's transcript should be acceptable, unchallenged, and as bona fide as any transcript from a public high school.

 

My D is currently taking a 4-credit hour, Advanced Spanish online course through a Florida state university. If she were to apply to that particular university and be told by the admission's department that the university's own Advanced Spanish class is the same as a high school Honor's class, you can bet I would be indignant. [However, that hasn't happened, so the point is moot].

 

I have sent you a PM with more info.

Edited January 29, 2011 by distancia

[MomsintheGarden]

She took AP PreCalc and earned an A in the class, but when she took the math SAT she scored a 490!

I don't know anything about FL college admissions, but this confused me. How could your dd's friend take AP Precalc when there is no AP Precalc exam?

 

GardenMom

[distancia]

I don't know anything about FL college admissions, but this confused me. How could your dd's friend take AP Precalc when there is no AP Precalc exam?

 

GardenMom

 

Sorry--just confirmed with daughter...it was AP Calculus AB (the easier one). Her friend was in a "pre-IB" program as a Freshman, and took Geometry her Freshman year (she had taken Pre-Algebra in 8th grade and skipped Alg 1 in order to go into the IB program). In 10th grade she took Alg 2; in 11th grade she dropped out of IB and took a lot of AP classes. I know she was having troubles with Math because she went to Sylvan after school every night for months and months.

 

Her friend also took AP Physics, AP Computer Science, and several other "non-mathy" AP classes. The poor girl was doing it so it would look good on her transcript when she applied to college. Her teachers were't doing her any favors by giving her As and Bs, either, because it caught up with her.

 

She's a prime example of a student who should have stuck with regular and honors courses and gotten her basics down. Now she's in UCF and overwhelmed, only taking 2 "real" courses; her 3rd class is the remedial math (no math credit), and her 4th class is study skills and counseling, because she's on academic probation.

Edited January 30, 2011 by distancia