Dual credits - can anyone speak to the experience of these?

[Sharon in SC]

My dd will be a junior next year. We will be considering dual credits through an area university. For any of you who have done this with your high schoolers, please speak from experience. do you recommend it? why or why not?

Thanks!

[Ria]

I think it's a great thing to do, but go into it with your eyes wide open. Not all colleges will accept transfer credits. Some have very strict criteria for accepting such credits. Most have a limit they will accept.

The experience of taking university classes while in high school is invaluable, but don't assume that any or all of the credits will transfer to your child's chosen college. Our twins graduated high school with 29 and 31 college credits respectively. Dd's school accepted each and every credit. Dh's school, on the other hand, reviewed each and every course, compared the text and syllabus of each course to what is taught at their school, and only allowed three courses' credits to transfer (and that's the max they'll allow).

Ria

[CynthiaOK]

It has been a very positive experience for us. My oldest graduated from high school with 35 credit hours (4.0 GPA) all of which transferred credit. He began in his junior year and took some summer courses. It taught him to be responsible for his education, he learned to get himself to class on time, to be prepared, learned that a deadline was not negotiable, found 2 excellent professor/mentors (Spanish prof, and philosophy prof).

His grades from our homeschool were validated by his university transcript and he gained those necessary letters of recommendation from an "academic" instructor.

We'll be starting concurrent enrollment with the next son this coming fall. For us, it is a great deal.

[Sandy in Indy]

Here in Indiana, there is a list of transferable courses. So, I know that the Spanish class that ds is taking will be a dual credit course. His calculus, however, isn't on the list and will be evaluated by the school . Even if it doesn't count for college credit, it's been a valuable experience for him.

And, the university told us that he could earn as many credits as he wanted before high school graduation and they would be applied (if the courses were acceptable).

[Sharon in SC]

My dd will be a junior next year. We will be considering dual credits through an area university. For any of you who have done this with your high schoolers, please speak from experience. do you recommend it? why or why not?

Thanks!

Thank you all for your responses. Please tell me - is the admission process for dual credit the same as for college admission or is there a difference in terms of hoops you have to go through to get into classes?

[mcconnellboys]

I recommend it. My son had a good experience through Indiana University. This was long distance learning, and I would have preferred him to do classes live, but he wasn't ready for that part of it.....

[CynthiaOK]

The admission process will be different for each system. Our state requires the student to take the ACT and achieve a certain level. Community College courses require a lower score than the regional universities, and the score for a junior is higher than the scores needed for a senior. Our state lists the requirements on the State Board of Regents for Higher Learning website.

[Alyce]

In NC just about any course you take can transfer to one of the state universities and many of the private universities in the state so we were pretty free to pick. My dd knew she wanted to attend UNCC so we went to there website and found a page where it told which CC courses counted for a specific general education class and what general education classes UNCC required you complete before delving into your major. By doing that I was able to get a semesters worth of my dd general courses out of the way before she even got there. Also in NC you can take as many CC courses that you like and you're still counted as a freshman when you come in so many of the freshman scholarships are still available to you. The admissison process is easy here. You meet with the dual enrollment counselor who helps you apply to the school, takes your transcripts, and either accepts your SAT or ACT score or makes an appointment for your child to take the placement exam. Then you register for classes. We signed up and completed all the paper work in a day. We did have to wait to register until the classes were open to the general public. Something about a NC law that states non high school students must have priority in selecting their courses. I guess they want to make sure a high school student doesn't bump an adult from a class. Anyway. It's been easy and worthwhile for my family and we're doing it again.

[Holly IN]

Here in Indiana, there is a list of transferable courses. So, I know that the Spanish class that ds is taking will be a dual credit course. His calculus, however, isn't on the list and will be evaluated by the school . Even if it doesn't count for college credit, it's been a valuable experience for him.

And, the university told us that he could earn as many credits as he wanted before high school graduation and they would be applied (if the courses were acceptable).

Sandy

I have a question:

I am getting conflicting information. One mom who graduated 2 already through homeschooling said to CLEP as much as you can and take as many dual college credits through IvyTech. One mom said to be careful about Cleping and dual credits. This mom said that it is better to go into college as a freshman than a sophmore because of scholarships. Another mom said NO Cleps or dual credits is good. She said do everything via portfolio...

What do you say about all of this? I am confused by 3 different moms having a different POV about this.

Curious about your stance!!

Holly

[K-FL]

For us, it's been great. Dd#1 will be graduating w/her AA when her age-mates are just finishing hs. Dual enrollment is free in FL & classes must transfer to state schools (& most instate privates do the same.) Placement is by ACT/SAT/or their (un-timed) placement test. As to scholarships, it varies from school to school. Most are considering her a freshman w/credit. More selective schools even consider the cc classes as "honors" level. On the whole, I recommend it. The dc get credits out of the way, get their feet wet w/college level work while still having you around & it conquers senioritis!! :o)

Edt to add: We're told by some admissions folks that if you come in w/the AA degree, as opposed to just a bunch of credits, they'll accept your classes across the board. Otherwise it's on a credit by credit basis.

[Sandy in Indy]

Sandy

I have a question:

I am getting conflicting information. What do you say about all of this? I am confused by 3 different moms having a different POV about this.

Curious about your stance!!

Holly

I pm'd you.

[Brenda in MA]

and it has been a very positive experience for him. He has enjoyed the different styles of the different instructors, and as someone else said, he has learned to get to class on time and turn in assignments on time. He was also asked by several fellow students in his Chemistry class to meet them at the library before class a few times to help them with the homework. This gave his confidence a big boost.

He started at the cc his senior year, and I wish we had started him there one year earlier. I also think his cc classes have been a great support to his home-made transcript during the college admissions process.

Some schools we talked to said that all of his courses would transfer, others said that only a couple would transfer. That was fine with us. We want him to take all the courses in his major area at his eventual college anyway.

Best wishes!
Brenda

[Julie in MN]

I agree with the others & only have a couple of things to add.

(1) Even if the credits don't transfer, the colleges will look at these credits as a better gauge of your student's abilities than his high school transcript. This is great if he does well, and not so great if he gets a poor grade.

(2) Even though my son had some college credits when he entered university, he elected to stick with his freshman class line-up & repeat calculus. It was partly that he wanted to be one of the gang, but he also wanted to learn what that college felt was important in calculus. This might be more of a factor for kids in specialized degree programs, rather than general college courses.

[Margaret in CO]

I've graduated two with credits and my freshman has started accruing hers. My oldest had 31.5 hours and all but the half credit in string ensemble transferred. It allowed her to graduate in 4 years in music. It also allowed her to become a sophomore the day classes started, thus being able to register before her age cohort.

My next had 45 credits and none transferred. The military academies transfer nothing. However, we were told by all three of the academies that she applied to (and was accepted at) that they made the difference in her Appointments. We knew that going in, so we allowed her to use her college money that was saved up to get those credits, knowing she had a pretty good shot at the academies.

My third child may very well stay home for her college, in which case ALL will transfer (obviously) as it's the same school.

I think they reason you're getting different answers is that each college is different.