Written by: Alexander Dominguez, Lead Writer for EnvisionSTEM
As far as college education stands, there’s an ongoing debate as to whether not students should take college classes like Advancement Placement (AP) or dual-enrollment courses. Some students take as many challenging classes as possible while others choose to stay away from anything that’s challenging.
It is possible to obtain college credit in high school by taking AP courses or dual-enrollment courses. This can help your application to other institutions such as Stanford, Berkeley, and the State University of New York. There is a tradeoff between taking AP courses and dual-enrollment courses: AP classes tend to be more rigorous than some of the college classes you might take. However, taking an AP class can help boost your GPA and thus improve your chances at getting into a great university.
However, not all colleges accept college credit that easily because they need to make money. Some schools will accept a certain score on an AP class or will take your AP class and treat it as an elective (not a bad thing at all). There are also private colleges. Some schools only accept AP credit and do not take it for any other form of college credit because they view themselves as being on a higher level than many other colleges. It doesn't hurt to apply either because most colleges want students to be successful in AP classes and will give you college credits for your hard work. One thing that is always important when it comes to high school is how well you did. Besides, showing that you took challenging courses like AP while in high school shows the colleges you applied to that you’re willing to accept challenges.
Below, we’ve attached a chart that shows how much the cost of tuition per credit hour at postsecondary institutions are.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you! But before, make sure to look into the schools you’re interested in and see if they take college credit and what their policies are for accepting them.
Comments