x-post: early college?

[Tohru]

My ds will be in 9th this next year and I am considering sending him to the community college for one class. The plan is to let him take one or 2 classes every semester until he gets his Associates, at which point he can transfer to a 4-year university. I read somewhere that if he has an Associates than it generally doesn't matter what his high school transcript / SAT looks like.

 

Has any one else considered or went this route with a high schooler? I'm looking for pros and cons for things that I haven't considered.

[Amy in NH]

My eldest son has a similar goal for himself as what you are describing for yours. He is now on his fourth cc class - he has been taking them online through a program that allows high schoolers to earn credits for $100/course. I don't think he would have been ready for a college classroom last year, as a high school freshman. He had decent writing skills for a high school freshman, but not up to college level. I did a lot of hand-holding during his first class that I may not have been able to do if he were in a classroom environment. YMMV. Now that he has a couple under his belt, I think he'd be ready for the college classroom environment if the opportunity presented itself.

[LibraryLover]

My ds will be in 9th this next year and I am considering sending him to the community college for one class. The plan is to let him take one or 2 classes every semester until he gets his Associates, at which point he can transfer to a 4-year university. I read somewhere that if he has an Associates than it generally doesn't matter what his high school transcript / SAT looks like.

 

Has any one else considered or went this route with a high schooler? I'm looking for pros and cons for things that I haven't considered.[/quote

 

Ignore me. I'm having a suckfest day.

Edited March 4, 2011 by LibraryLover

[hana]

My daughter did this, and it worked out very well. Do be careful about the awarding of the degree. We discovered that having an Associate's would have prevented her from being eligible for some scholarships, so she transferred with actually getting the degree.

[Ellie]

Both my dds did community college instead of high school. In California, c.c. transfer students are guaranteed admission to UC and CalSTate (which campus they get into is subject to what their majors are), ahead of high school grads. This may not be true in all states, so keep that in mind.

 

At any rate, it was worth it to *me* not to have to teach higher maths or sciences.

[Denise in Florida]

Both of my daughters dual enrolled at the local community college starting in 11th grade. Our systems prefers the kids be at least 16 before starting college classes, but they have taken younger ones.

 

19 yo dd completed High School with 36 college credits already earned. It did help to have the cc gpa. She also took the SAT and did well. She was still considered an incoming Freshman by the colleges to which she applied. As long as she took the courses while she was in high school she was counted as an incoming Freshman rather than a transfer student. This was a big advantage as far as scholarships went. Of course, they also applied the hours toward her degree so in theory she only needed 3 more years (she plans to take 4 years and earn a double major).

 

 

My 17 yo dd took 2 classes last semester (comp 1 and college algebra) and is taking 3 this spring (Comp 2, Pre-Calc, Psych). She will take classes again next year.

 

The CC classes count as high school credits to complete our Homeschool transcripts and serve as independant grades to show admissions counselors. In Florida, dual enrollment classes are tuition free but we need to buy the books (ouch).

 

In the Florida system the community colleges serve as feeder campuses for the university system. So students at our local cc can move seamlessly into University of North Florida.

 

9th might be a little young but you know your child, maybe start with one class in a subject he does well.

 

Good luck

[DarlaS]

My ds will be in 9th this next year and I am considering sending him to the community college for one class. The plan is to let him take one or 2 classes every semester until he gets his Associates, at which point he can transfer to a 4-year university. I read somewhere that if he has an Associates than it generally doesn't matter what his high school transcript / SAT looks like.

 

Has any one else considered or went this route with a high schooler? I'm looking for pros and cons for things that I haven't considered.

 

We are currently going this route with our oldest. He started out with two classes just as he turned 16, and is now full-time enrolled and 17. As soon as he takes Political Science (hopefully this summer), I will consider him a high school graduate (1 year early :w00t:).

 

He is pursuing an AS degree in mathematics, so is taking some pretty tough classes and holding his own. I am happy with our decision and the CC we chose is an excellent school (further away than some we could have picked, but worth it!) with a well respected math dept. and transfer agreements with many great universities. Many of these universities even offer classes right there at the CC campus.

 

Some universities still want to see transcripts etc. from transfer students so do look into that. Your best source of info would be the admissions counselors at the college/s he is considering. With most colleges and a completed AA or AS, it should not be an issue.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I would love to go this route for my DS who will be in 9th grade next year but our comm. college has an age and a grade requirement. I don't know how to get around those.

Edited March 4, 2011 by The Dragon Academy

[homeschoolally]

My daughter did this, and it worked out very well. Do be careful about the awarding of the degree. We discovered that having an Associate's would have prevented her from being eligible for some scholarships, so she transferred with actually getting the degree.

:iagree: This is how it is in many state school systems from our experience. You can get as many credits as you want as long as you remain a high schooler--and still enroll as a Freshman to the university. But--if you try to transfer those credits in as a transfer student you're looking at a totally different situation with merit aid--even need-based aid in some states.

 

We're doing exactly what you've described and so far it has worked well---but I won't try to have ds pursue a degree from the CC because I'm really counting on merit aid.

[Ibbygirl]

:iagree: This is how it is in many state school systems from our experience. You can get as many credits as you want as long as you remain a high schooler--and still enroll as a Freshman to the university. But--if you try to transfer those credits in as a transfer student you're looking at a totally different situation with merit aid--even need-based aid in some states.

 

We're doing exactly what you've described and so far it has worked well---but I won't try to have ds pursue a degree from the CC because I'm really counting on merit aid.

 

Is he able to CLEP courses once he's in University?

 

Also, I'm very curious about the poster who said she took CC online. Do you have a link to the program? I'd love to check it out and see if we have a similar option here. My dd is going into 9th next year as well.

 

Thanks. :)

[K-FL]

Both our dd started cc classes after 9th grade. Our cc is 1/2 the size of the local hs, so they actually get better attention than they would in ps. The cc classes were taken on campus, with students of all ages.

 

They both will (or did) graduate hs w/their associates. Both were considered "1st time in college" on the admissions (#1 in a private, in-state U, #2 public in-state U) so the scholarship advantages are not lost. All classes matriculated.

 

As to the SAT/ACT question: They still applied just like regular freshman so needed the test, BUT they didn't need the SAT-II to verify classes.

[AngieW in Texas]

Each cc district in Texas gets to set its own rules. Our cc requires that all students finish 10th grade before starting classes. At that point, they can take up to two classes each semester at no charge.

 

After they have completed 12 credit hours with at least a 3.5 GPA and if they have at least minimum scores (which are actually fairly high) on the SAT/ACT or COMPASS, then they can request permission to take an overload (additional courses). My 17yo is doing most of her senior year at the cc this way. They approved her to take 4 courses each semester instead of just 2 (we have to pay for the 2 extra classes).

 

My middle dd will start classes at the cc this summer after she finishes 10th grade.

[Tohru]

Thank you so much for the information. It's a lot to think about. I'll have to look into it the issue about grants and scholarships if he finishes.

 

Our CC takes students as young as 14 and it is feasible for one to get their entire degree through online courses. Most of the courses are guaranteed-transfer to University. I've thought about CLEP, but I think he would benefit from the actual course work.

 

We aren't in a hurry for him to graduate, but I'm feeling anxious about his high school years. I'm going to have 2 little ones during his journey and am very fearful that I wont be able to help him with the education he deserves, that's why we were thinking of the college route rather than high school transcript building.

[creekland]

There are definitely some pros to having cc courses when applying to college. There are pros and cons about using cc credits for college credit. Most of them are mentioned in this high school board thread:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219694

[Mejane]

Dd is halfway through her AA degree having just graduated high school. Here in CT, one is guaranteed admission to the excellent state uni if they have an AA from a CT cc - no SAT, no hs transcript, no competitive admissions process - it was a no-brainer. We are not interested in scholarships; if you are, YMMV.