Parents are always asking me about whether they should do AP (Advanced Placement) classes or Dual Enrollment. And which one looks better on a transcript? More specifically, they want to know how a homeschooler receives AP credit.
If you look at one of the flagship colleges in our state of Georgia, UGA, you will find out that the average student applying to UGA has 8-13 AP, DE, and IB classes. You can link to their latest Admissions statistics here. So how does a homeschooler go about this if they want to be competitive? A sister question to that would be which is better? CLEP/AP/DE?
Which is better? CLEP, AP, or DE?
Here is my take on CLEP. First of all, many colleges do not accept it. And they do accept AP and Dual Enrollment (DE). So I have concluded that you have a better chance of using your credit if you stick with AP and DE.
Also, both AP and DE make your transcript look more rigorous and contribute to a weighted GPA. This is important for competitive universities. CLEP testing doesn’t necessarily make your transcript more rigorous. It would depend on the names of the courses you took and what level they were. For example, a basic US History course could prepare you for CLEP testing but does not look more rigorous on the transcript. AP US History or a Dual Enrolled US History class would be weighted on the high school transcript GPA as well as make the transcript more rigorous.
How does a Homeschooler take Advanced Placement (AP) classes?
If you are considering AP, homeschoolers absolutely can take AP Classes. It is a myth that some people perpetrate that says that AP classes are off-limits to homeschoolers. Some possible places you can look into are:
Online: Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, Georgia Virtual School, Memoria Academy, Shormann Math, Power Homeschool Program, Khan Academy, HSLDA Online Academy, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, Udemy, Homeschool Connections
Local in North Metro Atlanta: Metro Academic Studies, Margaret Shuman, Eastside Academic Studies, Derek Owens, Cornerstone Prep. These places’ offerings vary each year, so check with them in the Spring during registration season to see what they offer. If you are aware of another a la carte place that offers AP that you would like me to add, please send it to me and I’ll update this listing!
Why would you not want to take AP classes?
In order to receive college credit for the AP class you took, you will need to sign up and take the AP test for that class. The signup time period is October during the school year before you take the test in May. Your college credit will all come down to your performance on that one day on that one test, even though you’ve been taking the AP class all school year. If your student is typically not a great test taker or has test anxiety, AP may not be the easiest way to get early college credit. You may want to consider Dual Enrolling.
How does a Homeschooler take Dual Enrollment courses?
If you are in the state of Georgia and you want to use the free funding for Dual enrollment courses (30 college credit hours included) you have a couple of ways to get started. First consider where you want to take the college classes — a public university, a technical college, or a private Christian school. Also, consider the manner in which you want your student to take them – in person or online. Then, go to that college’s website and verify what their admissions requirements are.
Some of the colleges may require an SAT/ACT score. If your student scores high enough on the SAT/ACT by the Spring of 9th grade or fall of 10th grade, you could start early in 10th grade. Otherwise, you should start in 11th grade. If you are not using the funding and the college is willing to accept you early in 9th or 10th grade, you can begin early. Each college has different enrollment policies and it also may depend on what type of classes you are taking. If you are taking dual enrollment classes online, they may or may not have an age or testing requirement.
All of our four kids took Dual Enrollment courses. We were able to transfer 37-42 college credits to their final colleges that they could apply to their majors. This helped them either have extra room/hours in college to take minors, graduate early, or spread out the harder classes and take their time. The state of Georgia pays for 30 free hours of Dual Enrollment at colleges in Georgia. You can get more than 30 hours by either self-paying or by taking courses online at any college that you think would transfer to your final college. This is what two of mine did after Georgia passed the law limiting it to 30 hours. We ended up using Chattahoochee Tech, Kennesaw State, and Arizona State for our college credits during high school. One of mine also took an AP course with Georgia Virtual School, but we stuck with mostly DE.
Conclusion:
I believe both the AP and Dual Enrollment options are better than CLEP testing. If you decide to go with CLEP exams, most people do not put those on the transcript. You would put that on your resume and directly on the college applications. And you would send the CLEP score to the college if they accept it. On your transcript, you will put the name of the course you studied for the CLEP, such as U. S. History.
We also do not put SAT/ACT scores on the transcript. The only thing we put on the transcript is the coursework taken in high school and the GPA.
For AP and Dual Enrollment courses, it is standard practice to give them a weight. At ACAWest.org, we weight them an additional .5 quality point. Do not be overly concerned about this weighting and how it compares to someone else’s. Most colleges strip off all the weighting and re-evaluate the transcripts they receive so that they are all weighted the same way when they are analyzing their admissions offers.
What about you? What path are you pursuing for rigorous high school credits with your kids?
Blessings,
Michelle
