earn paralegal certificate in high school?

[Lucy the Valiant]

Will earning a (one-year) paralegal certificate while in high school change a student's future college application status from freshman to transfer student? 

Are there cons to this plan? Is it better to push for the AS degree? Would THAT change the student's status? Does it matter? I'm reading & researching  . . . hoping to OPEN doors and not close any.

 

[Lori D.]

It depends on the possible future 4-year university.

Some accept unlimited college credits taken during high school, and even an Associate's degree without losing freshman status. Others limit the total "transfer" credits (from dual enrollment + CLEP tests + AP tests) to 60, or to 36 or 24, or even as low as 12 credits, and after that, the student is considered a transfer student.

My *guess* is that earning a certificate or an Associate's while still in high school would have the same policy with the school -- either the school accepts both of those options and the student retains freshman status, OR, the school accepts transfer credits, but draws the line at a either a certificate or an Associate degree. Again, that is just my GUESS. You just have to research the policy of each 4-year university you think might be a possibility and find out their specific policies.

As far as paralegal certificate vs. paralegal Associate degree -- I'd look around and see which is most wanted by hiring firms. Often, a 2-year Associate's degree is going to be more desirable than just a 1-year certificate. In some firms, or in some career fields where both certificates and Associates are available, it might not matter.

If you mean which is better -- a paralegal certificate or a general AS (the "straight-to-transfer degree") -- then look at the 4-year universities of interest and what their articulation agreements are with the community college. You'd be wanting to go to a 4-year school that accepts the AS degree as knocking out all of the gen. ed. credits in advance. The only downside here would be if the student ends up going into a 4-year degree program that is structured so that it will still require going 4 years to get the degree, even if 2 years of gen. ed.s have already been taken. Things like Engineering, Architecture, and Medical degrees often have a train of courses that must be taken in a sequence (and can't be taken concurrently) so that it just takes more than 2 years (4 semesters) to complete all of the courses in order. 

Lots of words here, all pointing to "YMMV", and "you'll have to research each college you're interested in." 😉 BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Lori D.

[Lucy the Valiant]

4 hours ago, Lori D. said:

 

Some accept unlimited college credits taken during high school, and even an Associate's degree without losing freshman status. Others limit the total "transfer" credits (from dual enrollment + CLEP tests + AP tests) to 60, or to 36 or 24, or even as low as 12 credits, and after that, the student is considered a transfer student.

 

Thank you so much, Lori! ❤️ A follow-up question re: the snip above - If she earns (say) 32 credits but wants to apply to a school that only allows 24, is it legal / ethical / okay to report only 24 of the 32, and just leave the others off the transcript (by listing them as high school courses without the accompanying CLEP / AP exam etc)? 

[Lori D.]

On 11/2/2020 at 4:52 PM, Lucy the Valiant said:

Thank you so much, Lori! ❤️ A follow-up question re: the snip above - If she earns (say) 32 credits but wants to apply to a school that only allows 24, is it legal / ethical / okay to report only 24 of the 32, and just leave the others off the transcript (by listing them as high school courses without the accompanying CLEP / AP exam etc)? 

NO! Failure to report all college credits on a transcript, or failure to send in official transcripts from all colleges where credits were taken, can lead to not being admitted, or if it is discovered after admission, it can lead to loss of any scholarship $$ (and possibly required to repay any scholarship $$); expulsion from the school; and if a degree was earned, stripping of the degree. That is NOT something to risk!

You MUST report all college credits on your transcript, AND when applying for admission to a college/university as a freshman college student, you MUST send transcripts from ALL institutions in which the student was registered.

So if taking dual enrollment at several different community colleges or a universities while still in high school, you must send an official transcript from each college or university, plus your own official homeschool high school transcript. Also, if the student was a registered student for even just 1 semester from a brick-and-mortar high school, an official transcript from that high school must also be sent with the college application.

Courses taken from online course providers do NOT need transcripts sent, as you were the administrator and placed those courses on the student's transcripts. If you are with a cover school or distance high school that specifically provides a transcript and a diploma, then you get an official high school transcript from that cover school to send in with the college admission application.

The only way the courses may not be counted as college courses, even if taken at a community college, is if they are below the 100 level -- so, high school or remedial level. OR, if the courses are specifically NOT dual credit courses and the community college states that the courses were NOT for college credit -- for example, some community college offer courses at a high school campus that are not college credit courses, so it is dual enrollment (enrolled in both your homeschool AND the community college), but not dual credit (counting as credit on both the high school transcript AND the college transcript). Most dual enrollment IS also dual credit, however.

All this means is that you may need to be making some decisions now, several years in advance of attending college, and crossing off colleges from your list of potential future schools if their policies do not line up with what is the best fit for your student credit-wise. Or, it may mean being willing to go into a school as a transfer student rather than as a freshman, and trying for transfer scholarships. However, there tend to be far fewer transfer scholarships awarded, and they tend to be for much smaller amounts, and they tend to be 1-time awards -- unlike the renewable freshman scholarships, which are usually good for 4 years, as long as the student maintains the requirements (like, GPA level, # of credits, etc.).


And, one last note about transfer of college credits: It is up to 4-year university to decide which, if any, college credits will transfer towards a degree. All other credits will be viewed as electives. They still count towards the total maximum allowed credits for freshman eligibility, but they may do nothing towards knocking out credits required for a 4-year degree. Which college credits are accepted, and for what, will vary from university to university.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Lori D.

[Lucy the Valiant]

OK - I thought that was true, and want to be sure to follow both the letter AND the spirit of the rules. Thank you again, Lori. 

We'll map out some options for DD, and then let her make the choices. And will definitely include ALL transcripts, etc. on the applications. 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

...We'll map out some options for DD, and then let her make the choices. And will definitely include ALL transcripts, etc. on the applications. 

BEST of luck in your planning and research for post-high school! 😄Also, if wanting some ideas for alternatives, check out the big pinned thread "College Motherlode" at the top of the WTM College Board. Below I've copy-pasted just SOME of the past threads. Warmest regards, Lori D.

on PAGE 3 - Alternatives to fund college / reduce college costs
s/o Cautionary Tale/high college costs — a brainstorm $$ ideas thread! 
How are YOU managing to pay for college? (lots of real-life creative ideas) 
College as cheap as possible: need advice
College breaking the piggy bank? (how are homeschoolers affording college?) 
Anyone’s kid done the Disney College Program? 

on PAGE 6 - Alternatives to 4-Year College
Alternative college options
Help me brainstorm potential non-four-year college marketable skills 
Can we discuss the relative merits and drawbacks of tuition-free Community College? 

If your children finished high school but didn't go to college: what did they do instead? 
Non-college bound students 
Trade-bound vs. college-bound 
Resources for high schoolers going straight into jobs? (no college first) 
Careers that don't require college 
NOT planning for college (options? how would that change high school?)

Pros and cons of getting an Associate's Degree 
College dreams vs. technical school reality: trying to reconcile my edu-snobbery -- May 5 2013, Ms. Riding Hood
Stories and statistics about Blue Collar homeschoolers 

Edited November 3, 2020 by Lori D.

[kiwik]

It sounds so complicated.  Good luck.

[MamaSprout]

On 11/2/2020 at 6:52 PM, Lucy the Valiant said:

Thank you so much, Lori! ❤️ A follow-up question re: the snip above - If she earns (say) 32 credits but wants to apply to a school that only allows 24, is it legal / ethical / okay to report only 24 of the 32, and just leave the others off the transcript (by listing them as high school courses without the accompanying CLEP / AP exam etc)? 

I don't think you would be required to accept the credits for CLEP and AP if it would be a disadvantage to do so. If you reported/ used them towards one program though, I should think you would need to carry them forward as a transfer.

[Lori D.]

17 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

I don't think you would be required to accept the credits for CLEP and AP if it would be a disadvantage to do so. If you reported/ used them towards one program though, I should think you would need to carry them forward as a transfer.

I was just doing a fast online search, and AP/CLEP policies are all over the place. For some schools it is an automatic granting of credit. Other schools only accept one and not the other, or accept neither AP/CLEP.

Because of the widely-diverging policies on credit maximums and how AP/CLEP (and DANTES, another exam-for-credit option) are handled, it is vital to research the policies of each and every college.