Dual enrollment classes for biology or computer science major (cross post in College Board also)

[JadeOrchidSong]

Hi, I have been away for a couple years. 

Ds16 is interested in computer science as college major. He will start taking PSEO (dual enrollment) classes as an 11th grader next school year. I wonder if you know what kind of classes he should take in 11th and 12th grades. Thanks! 

Ds14 is interested in medical school. He will major in biology or chemistry, I guess. What dual enrollment classes should he take in the last two years of high school? 

Your help will be greatly appreciated. 

[Momto6inIN]

I think it depends what your goals are for the DE courses.

We just do 1 or 2 DE classes when my kids are seniors in high school. Our main purpose is to ease them in to a college environment and to give them experience with teachers other than me (or learning on their own), not because we wanted more rigor in a particular subject. In our experience, DE at a CC did not provide more rigor than I did at home, but it did provide a different kind of accountability. We try to pick a course or two in their personal area of strength to set them up for success. If it's something they will need to have a really solid foundation in for their future major, we actually prefer to do it at home rather than the CC. 

Oldest DS is now a CS major and we opted to do Calculus at home with AoPS because it was more in depth than a CC calc class. He took Statistics at the CC instead and it was easy for him content wise and a good expereience and a fun addition to his already very complete math transcript.

Next DS is a senior next year and much more of a humanities guy. We are looking at enrolling him in Music Theory and some kind of Communications or Education class. His core subjects eill be done at home.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't enroll your students in core courses at the CC - not at all! For many people that is the right choice and fits best into their future plans. For example, I know many students who use CC to do foreign language very successfully. Just that you need to think about *why* you're having them do DE as you choose your courses.

[JadeOrchidSong]

Momto5inIn, 

i would like ds to take classes that are not important for his major just so they are out of the way, for example, English 124, Western Civ, or Literary Analysis. I think they might be required for all majors that they can take during high school. 

[GoodGrief]

One thing to keep in mind, especially for your potential med student, is that the grades earned in dual enrollment classes will follow them through life, just like grades in any college classes after high school. GPA is very important for med school applicants.

Required coursework is going to vary from school to school, so you really need to look at the requirements and transfer policies for the schools they will attend.

Personally, I would choose classes in which you know they have a reasonable chance of doing very well, and that fulfill whatever needs they have for high school completion :-)

[Momto6inIN]

6 hours ago, JadeOrchidSong said:

Momto5inIn, 

i would like ds to take classes that are not important for his major just so they are out of the way, for example, English 124, Western Civ, or Literary Analysis. I think they might be required for all majors that they can take during high school. 

I think that's a fine plan. As long as rhey are ready for the significant amounts of reading and writing they will need to do and for the faster pace than a high school class (one year's worth of work in one semester), it should work out great.

My oldest also wanted to avoid as many humanities as possible in college 🙂 so he chose to do AP English and CLEP for Spanish, US History, and Gov. DE would accomplish the same purpose. Just make sure to check with the individual schools you think they might end up attending and whether or not the specific courses you are thinking about will transfer or not. It can vary a lot from school to school!

[lmrich]

We let our dd do one class the first semester, then two the next etc.. SInce it was truly dual enrollment, we needed her credits to count toward her highschool requirements. She took World History, English 101, Political Science, and this semester: English 102, Human Communications (a high school elective), American History. 

She does not know what she wants to major in, but all these classes transfer to 2 of the 3 schools she is considering. Our university system has very clear and easy to understand transfer equivalency websites. 

[...................]

For your computer science guy, it’s very important that he should like, and have a can-do, positive outlook toward math. Whether he takes computer sci or computer engineering track, both majors are extremely math heavy. He will eventually need three or four levels of Calc, linear alg, discreet maths, etc. etc.  Assuming that is the case, then you can move forwRd with trying out a programming class, but I would assume he’s already done some programming at home? 

Just take Whatever programming course the college offers as a first level. Usually it’ll be c++ and that’s fine. Your son will know right away whether he’s one of the ones that can hack it or not. After that he just can take college level math and or programming courses at your or his desire 🙂