How does having an associate's degree in high school look on college applications?

Answered

As long as you apply to Texas colleges that recognize these AA degrees or allow you to transfer some of them you are in good shape. I don't believe top colleges outside of Texas will give you very much credit toward your undergraduate degree or nothing at all.

I'm pretty certain that you can't use them at an Ivy League school because they would consider you a transfer student and the admit rates for transfers are typically harder than applying as a first time college student.

The major problem with these programs are that they are devised in conjunction between your HS school and a Texas state run community college. It is not a global program or national program but a localized state initiative between 1 or more High Schools and community colleges that serve Texans. The primary intent is to give Texas residents a boost for completing their 4 year degree within the great state of Texas at Texas schools.

While they fulfill the course rigor for the colleges that award the AA degree within Texas, you really can not compare say a Core Curriculum course at Columbia University or UChicago to them. So if you have a core class like Western Civilization, how does that compare to a history class in the DE track? It's like apples to oranges so I don't think top Privates are going to accept them even as transfer credits.

The other problem is how college square the benefits of having them on your transcripts with say IB courses, AP course or PMC course (pre matriculation college courses that are on their list of sanctioned and qualified schools) Your DE credits are not the same thing as IBs, APs or PMCs from say Top 50 universities.

When colleges see applicants having completed either the IB Diploma with a 42/45 score or have completed 10 APs and have averages 4s and 5s on those exams, they understand what that means since these are standardized curricula given globally around the world. A 42/45 is a 42/45 no matter where you took the IB tests, India or Switzerland. Same goes with APs. If you tool AP Calc B/C or AP Physics C or AP Lit/Lang and got 5s in them, that means something to the Ivys regardless if you took them in China, Mexico or Canada.

Taking IBs, APs and PMCs shows evidence that you did college level work that they recognize universally acceptable enough to either exempt your from repeating similar courses or give you a higher standing in the subject. But with a Texas AA degree, few if any in the admissions office can quantify if that is 90% as good as an IB Diploma or 50% as good. You see, barrier to entry is completely different as well. To get As in IBs and APs and score top test scores, you have to be one of the best students in your high school cohort. I'm not sure what the criteria is for entering a DE program at your HS to earn college credits.

Therefore, I think they are most valuable to schools in the state of Texas that will recognize them and attach some intrinsic value to each of the courses you took under this DE program. It would be unrealistic to think that if you had 60 credit hours completed by the time you finish HS in Texas, that those 60 credits would all apply to your BS/BA degree at a top out of state private college or university.

For 9th and 10th graders reading this in Texas, if your final destination is an Ivy League or Top Elite College outside of Texas, I highly recommend that you ask your parents to enroll you into a school that offers APs, IBs or allows you to take college courses and top research universities. Otherwise you will be in the same position of having accrued a lot of DE credits that will not help you get into a top schools outside the state of Texas.

If you don't mind sharing the name of your HS, that would be helpful because I'm interested in learning how they market these programs and what kind of high school you attend. Regards.