Many highschool students who plan on pursuing higher education make the decision to enroll in dual credit or AP courses to minimize their time in college. These courses are advanced classes that allow for students to gain both highschool and college credit in a cost effective manner. There are many differences between these two course types that make deciding between them an unexpected challenge.
The first step to making this important decision is to recognize why you are pursuing these college credits. There are characteristics for each course type that can be beneficial depending on future plans.
“So if somebody is looking to just really utilize their time in high school to get as many credits as possible to transfer, dual credit makes the most sense,” Glenn’s College and Career Transition Coordinator Anne Kennedy said. “The biggest difference between the AP and the dual credit, while both are very rigorous and both look great on college applications, is that to get the AP credits you have to pass the test and that’s a one-time deal and that’s super high stakes. Not everybody thrives in that kind of situation. Whereas with dual credit, if you pass the class, you get the college credit and of course the high school credit.”
Another determining factor is what college the student is planning to attend. Different colleges hold different transfer policies for credits, so if you plan on going to a certain college that doesn’t accept ACC credits, ACC courses might not be the option for you.
“There’s some kind of legislation that says your colleges have to accept the credit, but again it’s not a one-to-one,” Kennedy said. “They can take your history AP credit and put it as an elective and say, you still have to take our history because that’s the institution’s right to do so.”
When taking advanced classes and extracurriculars, you must think about how to balance your priorities between the two commitments.
“Especially now, like since basketball season is starting back up again, I’m going to have to spend time, whether that’s like, late at night or I have an off period on B day,” senior AP Student Marissa Hernandez said. “So I might have to wake up earlier and start working on my school work then because I’m going to be at games twice a week. Most of the time it’s just me sacrificing sleep a little bit for that but I make up for it later in the week.”
Overall the most important thing is to know your limits, goals and boundaries while choosing these classes.
“I guess it’s important to know what you’re able to do,” junior Rafael Kommu said. “Like don’t take any super hard class that you know you won’t be able to do because it’s outside your comfort zone. And just know, like, whether dual credit or AP benefits you the most for what you’re trying to do.”