As we approach the end of the 3rd quarter, we begin to shift focus towards the next school year. A lot of stress and pressure surrounds this time of year. Students are concerned with AP classes, raising their GPAs and selecting courses for the coming academic school year. For rising sophomores and juniors they have the option to begin taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses in a plethora of subjects. As an alternative for many AP classes there are Dual Enrollment (DE) courses that offer similar academic rigor to an AP course, but don’t require an exam at the end of the year to receive a quality point. When choosing between DE and AP it is important to understand the pros and cons of each course.
On Entrance and Final Exams:
DE courses are offered at our school through Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). For this reason these classes often require additional entrance requirements and forms to be registered. Many students prefer Dual Enrollment courses because of the unique experiences and interesting coursework that DE offers in comparison to AP. A major focus of Dual Enrollment is to achieve a class environment that resembles a college course.
AP classes culminate at the end of the year during AP testing. For many students, this plays a large factor in their choice between AP or DE. AP testing brings a fair amount of unnecessary stress to a time of year that already remains one of the busiest. Students have to be worried about AP exams on top of their already intense course load during the months of May and June.
On College Applications:
College application season is right around the corner for juniors and it is important to understand what colleges will take which credits. AP and DE courses can be an effective way of knocking out some of those early general education requirements in college. This situation can be tricky because all colleges have different policies around what they will accept as a college credit.
DE credits from our school are widely accepted among public universities in the state of Virginia. Since these credits come from NOVA, Virginia schools are more inclined to accept these credits than out-of-state universities. Schools like University of Virginia (UVA) have a greater obligation to accept DE credits than AP credits. AP credits are often denied at UVA if they are not paired with a four or five on the AP exam. For a student confident in their ability to succeed on an AP exam I strongly suggest taking the AP course instead of DE.
For students applying out-of-state, DE credits are much less frequently accepted in comparison to AP credits. Colleges outside of Virginia view AP as the standard, but the acceptance of AP credits vary from college to college.
On the whole, my personal experience with AP courses has been intense. The increased workload and academic rigor create a challenging academic experience. Despite the difficulty there are a plethora of resources at our disposal which guide in AP coursework. Teachers of AP courses do an excellent job of preparing students for the AP exam while continuing to make the class interesting.
Students taking both Dual Enrollment and AP courses believe DE courses are less challenging than their AP counterparts. Although certain aspects may be easier for some DE courses have a level of difficulty akin to that of AP courses. Specifically in Dual Enrollment English 11 students are expected to read a significantly larger amount than in AP Language Composition. On the other hand AP Language and Composition students write more frequently because the course focuses on rhetoric and analysis of writing.
The choice between AP and DE varies for each student. That is why it’s so important to discuss your schedule with your counselor. Based on your previous course load and future aspiration they will be able to advise you towards the best schedule possible. Appointments can be made with counselors through their respective canvas pages to discuss academic planning.
