Advanced Placement vs Dual Enrollment

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VirtuousTempest

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Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment in Community College is both offered at my school, but I'm looking for answers and the personal experiences of people who have taken both.

-Which one has a better impact on my pre-med timeline?
-Do I need the full four years for pre-med classes, extracurricular activities and MCAT?
-Which one offers better content?
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Go the Dual Credit route. Advanced Placement in the sciences can be a complete waste of time. I did AP in Biology and Physics B & C and got a 4, 5 and 4, respectively. While I did get some college credit from my university, I still had to take 2 semesters of physics to fulfill the medical school requirement.

A lot of medical schools will not accept high school credit as prerequisites.

So do both if you wish. Advanced Placement languages and art history can be some easy credits for you. In Dual credit, however, everybody wins :thumbup:
 
Definitely go dual enrollment, AP credits can be a hassle at times when trying to apply/transfer them in higher education, but the courses you take at the CC are already college courses, so they're much more bullet proof.

I'm not sure how exactly your school works, but back when I was in HS, my option was to take all my courses at the CC, not a combination, so I got in almost a years worth of college done while in HS.

I think you'll also find the college environment to be more enjoyable. Just being able to have a drink in class was amazing to me back then.;)

Best of luck
 
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I say go with Dual Enrollment. Ap credits aren't guranteed. Most colleges accept CC credits and you'll be ahead of the game.

CC classes aren't too hard but the grades will always follow you around wherever you go. Be careful not to mess up your GPA early on. If you're taking science courses, take them seriously.
 
I enjoyed my early college experience very much, and many credits transfered or allowed me to take upper level classes upon full-time entry. It was difficult at times logistically (I wasn't old enough to drive...), but I'd suggest taking that route if you have transportation and are allowed to enroll part time (some states have minimum ages--usually 14 or so). AP courses would allow you to bypass some of those issues and would demonstrate mastery of material that you could use to enter higher level courses/full-time college later on.
 
Do dual enrollment for sure because then you know for sure that your college credits will transfer. If you take AP classes, there is no guarantee that you will pass the exam. In the case that you do not pass or you do not get the 5 that would pass you out of that class in college, you'll have to retake it still. But college courses will count for sure, if you take the right classes (that are transferable to the college of your choice)
 
just know that the grades you get in dual enrollment counts towards your gpa used in med school
 
In my opinion, it depends on the rigor of your dual-enrollment school and whether you can get past the memorisation that AP classes demand.
If you do APs, then find subjects that will definitely be accepted at your college and that you have an avid interest in. Past just taking the course, to get the college level material for APs, you have to find supplements yourself. I'm dual-enrolled now and taking AP Bio. I love Bio but I opted out of the exam because it didn't feel like I was really learning in class. Some APs can leave you ill-prepared for uni.
Also, if you dual-enroll, try an honors class or two. The extra work is worth the challenge.
 
It depends mainly on what you want. Do you want to have an easier time in high school or are you willing to put in a good amount of time towards your education in hs. The reason I say this is because your dual credit grades will be a part of your medical school GPA so it is essential you do well in your courses.

I would also advise against taking core pre-reqs at a CC.
 
indianjatt said:
It depends mainly on what you want. Do you want to have an easier time in high school or are you willing to put in a good amount of time towards your education in hs. The reason I say this is because your dual credit grades will be a part of your medical school GPA so it is essential you do well in your courses.
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This is why I would suggest not doing duel enrollment. You are in High School, study hard but enjoy being a teen. If you do duel enrollment and end up failing a class or two you will be stuck with those grades when applying to med school. If you fail an AP test then....you don't get credit; not a big deal. Additionally, spend the full 4 years in college. Its worth it.
 
I would suggest AP credit. If you screw up in dual enrollment, those grades are going to show up on your application to med schools. Take some time to learn how to study in high school and then ace your classes in college.
Good luck ^^b
 
Dual enrollment FTW!!! I had a nice number of credits after graduating high school and it made life very nice. Maybe it was just how I perceived things in high school but teachers always seemed to make the AP classes ridiculously hard (from what my friends that were in them said). I took the "normal" classes with dual enrollment and come college time I was in the same boat as those (seemingly) awesome geniuses in high school.

Plus, some med schools B&M about AP credits. With dual enrollment it just shows up as a regular old college class with a grade next to and no other questions asked
 
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I would honestly go with AP. You can get credits in most subjects if you score a 4, which is not too difficult.

In regards to dual enrollment...First, dual enrollment has the potential to screw up ones GPA. Second, medical schools would prefer you take your prereqs at a four year university, not a CC. Plus, many dual enrollments cost money, whereas AP credit tends to be free.
 
Does this sound like a good plan?

A.P. classes:
A.P. US Hx.
A.P. Stats
A.P. Bio *

Dual enrollments:
english 101 (through 4 yr. university)
spanish 101 (through 4 yr. university)
physics 1 and 2 (through community college) *

* plan to take upper level bio courses anyway as a bio major
* will the physics through cc be a problem with med school admissions?
Can physics 1 and 2 be retaken at a 4 yr if you already have credit for
the classes at a 2 yr, or do you need to go on to advanced physics
classes?
 
They won't look down on dual enrollment classes at community college that fulfill requirements. I did some of that, as well. Also, make sure upper division courses have a lab for two semesters (requirement for schools to have 2 semesters of biology lab). Courses that are purely lab-based will fulfill that.

Also, you might want to consider taking more college courses than those AP classes. You'll have better discussions in college that go more in-depth than AP classes will, and you won't have to worry about whether or not your undegrad takes your AP scores to pass out of courses :)

By the way, some medical schools require a year of math. You might want to take stats at college, as well, if you are not planning to take much math during college (upper division stats classes or additional semesters of calculus).
 
cuddlemuffinn said:
Go the Dual Credit route. Advanced Placement in the sciences can be a complete waste of time. I did AP in Biology and Physics B & C and got a 4, 5 and 4, respectively. While I did get some college credit from my university, I still had to take 2 semesters of physics to fulfill the medical school requirement.
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The same thing happened to me. I took the AP Bio exam and scored a 5, which got me out of 5 hours of Zoology at my university. However, I took those 5 hours anyway, because I wanted the easy A. Plus, a lot of med schools don't accept AP credit, which takes its toll when you start to apply.
 
I wish we had dual enrollment at my high school. I ended up taking one AP course and a bunch of IBs, which don't guarantee me any credit whatsoever. I worked my tail off, and I'm not guaranteed any credit unless I score high enough on the exams. I'd go dual enrollment, just due to the fact that it's real college credit.
 
VirtuousTempest said:
Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment in Community College is both offered at my school, but I'm looking for answers and the personal experiences of people who have taken both.

-Which one has a better impact on my pre-med timeline?
-Do I need the full four years for pre-med classes, extracurricular activities and MCAT?
-Which one offers better content?
Click to expand...

I would recommend dual enrollment. I currently finished with dual enrollment and I'm getting my associates this summer at the age of 17.

During this time while taking courses at my local CC, I had time to build up my EC's and take half of my premed reqs. I'm transferring to a university for this upcoming Fall semester. I'll finish up my premed reqs this year and apply to med school at age 18 and finishing my bachelors at age 19.

Dual enrollment gives you a head start.

You don't need to finish all your premed reqs before you apply, you have to finish them before you enter med school.

Dual enrollment: My experience was i could take as many credits I wanted depending on how well I was doing and took courses during winter/may/summer mesters as well. My own pace and I could schedule my classes on my own, a lot of freedom unlike a collegiate high school where you still have a set time to go to school and can't pick your professors etc, I could tho.

Besides that dual enrollment allowed me to leave high school after my soph year and attend a CC at age 16. Also, all the courses you take are transferable unlike some AP courses, and some med schools won't accept AP courses in Bio etc..
 
VERY IMPORTANT

If you take cc classes, the grades WILL appear on your AMCAS application and they WILL affect your GPA. You can denote that they were taken in highschool but they will still be factored into your AMCAS GPA just like any other college grade, and it's up to the individual adcoms if they want to separate it out or not.

So keep this in mind, if you take cc classes, you pretty much are shooting yourself in the foot if you don't do well. It also can help boost your GPA if you do well. If you feel like slacking, take the AP instead.
 
Nymphicus said:
VERY IMPORTANT

If you take cc classes, the grades WILL appear on your AMCAS application and they WILL affect your GPA. You can denote that they were taken in highschool but they will still be factored into your AMCAS GPA just like any other college grade, and it's up to the individual adcoms if they want to separate it out or not.

So keep this in mind, if you take cc classes, you pretty much are shooting yourself in the foot if you don't do well. It also can help boost your GPA if you do well. If you feel like slacking, take the AP instead.
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Definitely something to keep in mind.

Word of advice, don't put too much stock in trying to get college credit for classes. It's pretty much useless.
 
NickNaylor said:
Word of advice, don't put too much stock in trying to get college credit for classes. It's pretty much useless.
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+1 . It feels cool in high school but will be worthless and perhaps detrimental unless you want a career in research in which case it will help launch you to the upper level/graduate level classes early which is good for research and grad school applications.
 
VirtuousTempest said:
Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment in Community College is both offered at my school, but I'm looking for answers and the personal experiences of people who have taken both.

-Which one has a better impact on my pre-med timeline?
-Do I need the full four years for pre-med classes, extracurricular activities and MCAT?
-Which one offers better content?
Click to expand...

1. I'd have to go with dual enrollment as well. As previously mentioned, AP credit doesn't always count on med school applications. You don't want to think you AP'd your way out and then find out otherwise junior year of college, having to sit through an intro to bio class after you've taken ample upper division ones (seen it happen, its only funny if its not you).

Another thing you can consider is graduating high school early. This may or may not be possible for you, but it was for me having gone to a magnet school and taking one class online. I graduated at 16, no AP credits but went straight into doing the college thing.

2. Not necessarily. I did undergrad in 3 yrs. Got in my volunteering and a solid research experience (didn't publish though) and studied for MCAT winter of year 2, taking it spring of the year I applied/accepted.

3. Probably the dual enrollment. AP is going to be taught by high school teachers, and only some of them really put together a good course. The only upside is if you aren't good at a subject and want to strengthen your knowledge before you take it for real (ie, getting a grade that counts for something). College classes will be on par with what you will do in undergrad.
 
Tatertots said:
This is why I would suggest not doing duel enrollment. You are in High School, study hard but enjoy being a teen. If you do duel enrollment and end up failing a class or two you will be stuck with those grades when applying to med school. If you fail an AP test then....you don't get credit; not a big deal. Additionally, spend the full 4 years in college. Its worth it.
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I have to agree with the quoted. I did my entire senior year of high school as a full-time dual enrollment student, and did not take it seriously since I thought it wouldn't count. Those grades are still with me :( If you have the discipline though, I say go for it since it was pretty nice to not have to worry about gen ed requirements when I started undergrad and I was able to take the classes I actually wanted to take.

I also did AP classes in HS, but med schools typically don't even count those, so it would only be good for a head start.
 
I vote dual enrollment. I did dual enrollment my junior and senior years of high school and graduated with an Associate's degree and 4.0 gpa. I took Chem 1 and 2, calculus 1, and stats. I took AP Bio my sophomore year of high school and got a 5 but I'm retaking it at my university freshmen year.

My advice would be to do dual enrollment only if you're serious about academics and are willing to put in the time and effort to do well in all of your classes. By well, I mean A/B+. I came into DE with the mindset that I would ace all of my classes and use those good grades as cushion so that if I make a bad grade later on, I have tons of A's to offset a dramatic drop in my AMCAS gpa.

Don't take all of your pre-reqs during dual enrollment because you want to show medical schools that you can excell in both a 2 year and 4 year college environment. I would say its safe to take math, bio, and chem but not orgo or physics unless you have to.

Another plus about DE is that you can use this time to do your general education requirements so that when you get into a 4 year university, you can take more classes you like/want to take. Just be sure the credits will transfer to the university will go to. Also, I don't know how your school handles DE but at my school, all of my classes and textbooks were free. So DE can help you offset college costs if money is an issue. You could graduate a year early or end up not paying for classes you don't like or want to take.

APs are a great option if you want to test the waters as to what a college class in that subject will be like without the grade burden that DE has. However, some medical schools may not accept the AP credit or will require you to take higher level classes in that subject. It all varies by school and it would suck to find out at application time that a school you're applying to will not take your AP credits. It's all up to you. There are pros and cons to both. From my experience thus far, I would recommend DE. However, only you know yourself and how you would handle an AP or DE class. Both ways will lead you to medical school.
 
torshi said:
dual enrollment..


I dual-enrolled full-time at my local CC at 16
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torshi said:
I'll finish up my premed reqs this year and apply to med school at age 18 and finishing my bachelors at age 19.
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Overachiever... :D

From my own experiences, AP is a much better choice, although I don't plan to use AP credit to skip any college courses. However, I went to a rigorous high school where I had to bust my chops to do well in the AP classes. The Dual Program at my school was not only ill-taught, but it was less comprehensive than all of its AP analogues. Also, Dual credits only count at in-state Texas colleges (At least from what I heard of the program. Don't take my word for this though) .
 
ElCapone said:
Overachiever... :D

From my own experiences, AP is a much better choice, although I don't plan to use AP credit to skip any college courses. However, I went to a rigorous high school where I had to bust my chops to do well in the AP classes. The Dual Program at my school was not only ill-taught, but it was less comprehensive than all of its AP analogues. Also, Dual credits only count at in-state Texas colleges (At least from what I heard of the program. Don't take my word for this though) .
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Yea but regarding AP credits for bio/chem etc med schools won't accept it. They'll most likely tell you to retake. But during dual-enrollment if you take bio or chem whatever, it counts because obviously your at an accredited college.
 
I would personally go for AP. If you went dual-enrollment, the grade you get in that class would count for medical school. So, you may be at a disadvantage if the class is extremely tough and such. With AP, though, you could possibly get credit for medical school. If you don't, which is very likely, you have the background to do very well in your college introductory classes. If you're terrible in AP, your appeal to medical schools isn't affected and you have time to work on your shortcomings.
 
AntiHouseMD said:
I would personally go for AP. If you went dual-enrollment, the grade you get in that class would count for medical school. So, you may be at a disadvantage if the class is extremely tough and such. With AP, though, you could possibly get credit for medical school. If you don't, which is very likely, you have the background to do very well in your college introductory classes. If you're terrible in AP, your appeal to medical schools isn't affected and you have time to work on your shortcomings.
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Well that's kinda the whole point because your trying to get ahead. They should know if that's the choice they want to make. If they dual enroll they can finish things really fast, but yes at their own risk. It can be done.
 
Take AP and then go to a state school. That's how you get all those lovely credits from APs.

I had to take a couple classes over again my freshman year. You will probably need to take science prereqs again, but other classes probably not. Most med schools accept AP. It was also a nice review of the material and an easy "A" which is awesome to begin college. I also had enough credits from APs to take some easier semesters, study abroad, and graduate in 4 years.

Take the APs. Why does everyone need to rush through college?
 
torshi said:
Yea but regarding AP credits for bio/chem etc med schools won't accept it. They'll most likely tell you to retake. But during dual-enrollment if you take bio or chem whatever, it counts because obviously your at an accredited college.
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Agreed. But it depends on the situation. For someone wanting to graduate early, dual would be preferable. For someone wanting to graduate in 4 years, AP would be the choice (Retake those classes and get an easy A).

But it all comes down to a choice: Do I take dual to get out early and take a risk or do I take AP and have a good shot at getting a good grade (Assuming your AP class was adequate enough to prepare you for college)?

EDIT: Here's a trick. If your college does not accept your AP score, claim that AP credit at a local community college and then transfer those credits over to your college.

Barcu said:
Take AP and then go to a state school. That's how you get all those lovely credits from APs.
Most med schools accept AP. It was also a nice review of the material and an easy "A" which is awesome to begin college.
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I think most med schools accept AP credit for lower level science courses as long as you fulfill your science requirement by taking upper-levels.
 
Dual enrollment would be way easier, transfer-credit wise. But a lot of teachers at my school say the AP sciences are significantly harder than our local CC, and that's the largest CC in Michigan. To a lot of people, CC's are used as a stepping stone for kids that screwed up in high school.

I'd say AP prepares you more, but dual enrollment is just easier to transfer.
 
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