AP or community college classes?Answered
Next year I will be a senior in high school. I have the option of taking up to 4 AP classes, or 2 AP classes and 5 community college classes. Both are doable for me. The community college is The College of the Albemarle, and the online courses are easy. The 2 AP classes and 5 COA (College of the Albemarle) option will be better for my GPA, but my main worry at this point is getting admitted to college and getting scholarships. Realistically, my COA classes will not give me any credits to any college outside of North Carolina, or any private college within North Carolina. So what is better for me to do? What will give me more scholarships and better admissions chances, a higher GPA and dual-credit classes, or more AP classes?
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2 answers
It's always better to take the 4 APs, especially if you are applying to competitive or very competitive colleges. Such colleges will always trump your course rigor over your GPA. So if you end up with 7 APs and a 3.85 UWGPA, that looks better than graduating with a 3.94 and 4 APs.
Good luck.
I am currently doing full-time dual enrollment and it has been the most rewarding experience, so I completely recommend doing 2 AP and 5 dual enrollment (college) courses. Also, you probably will not have trouble transferring DE credits. I went to Valencia College in FL when I lived there and now I am doing dual enrollment through a local university in Georgia. All of my courses transferred. To be honest, my GPA did drop from a 4.0 to a 3.75 since I began DE, but colleges like to see rigor courses and that you are pushing yourself. As long as you do both, colleges will like it. :)
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@CameronBameron is right. Part of this rigor determination comes from the fact that community college courses are not standardized in the way AP classes are. An A in college course could be a lot easier to get than in an AP course of the same topic.