In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Dual Enrollment vs. AP

I recently wrote a post on the advantages of dual enrollment classes for high school students.

For some students, a dual enrollment class at a college might be a better experience than an AP class at their high school. However, APs do offer one significant advantage. Specifically, their standardized end-of-year exams make it easy for other schools to determine how well a student has mastered the subject matter.

A student with a high score on an AP exam is very likely to get credit for it when he or she enrolls as college freshmen. On the other hand, a student who has completed a dual enrollment class might have trouble getting credit for it if his or her new college is unfamiliar with the institution where it was offered.

Click here to learn more from College Admissions Partners.

Federal Government Eliminates Fee Waivers for AP Tests

Low-income students are no longer eligible for fee waivers for AP exams, reports the New York Times.

This year, qualifying students will pay a reduced rate: $15 for each of their first three exams and $53 for each additional one. The regular cost of an AP exam is $87.

The elimination of AP fee waivers stems from federal budget cuts. In December, Congress reduced the funds available to help high school students pay for exams from $43 million to $27 million.

AP exams can yield college credit or advanced standing and save students thousands of dollars in college tuition. Click here to read more on the Times.

Does this budget cut affect you? If so, let me know in the comments section below.

The Many Benefits of Dual Enrollment

Like AP classes, dual enrollment classes allow students to earn college credits while in high school.

Unlike APs, which are targeted to overachievers, most “dual” classes are accessible to a variety of students.

A recent U.S. News article discusses some additional benefits of dual enrollment. For example, taking a “dual” class on a college campus can give a high school student the confidence that he or she can succeed in college.

To learn more, check out the full article on U.S. News.

Where the Three-Year Degree Is Law

Many students earn a bachelor's degree in three years instead of four.

To get ahead of the pack, these students take AP and dual enrollment classes in high school; they also take a larger-than-usual number of credits each semester of college.

It makes for a grueling workload, but there are a couple of good reasons to finish college in three years. First, these students pay less tuition than their peers do. Second, they reach the workforce—and start getting paid—a year early.

While it often requires a bit of improvising—and a dash of luck—to graduate in three years, a few states are implementing programs to make things easier for these students. Ohio recently joined this movement with a bold mandate: every one of its public colleges and universities must now provide a three-year degree to those students who want one.

Click here to learn more on TV10.com.

College Speak: Full-Time, First-Time, and Transfer

You may be surprised by the number of unfamiliar terms associated with college and college life. Undergraduate, TA, accreditation, Greek life, the FAFSA—high school counselors and college admissions officers use these terms every day. Unfortunately, they don’t always stop to explain what each term means.

The “College Speak” series explains the college-oriented vocab that you need to be in the know and focus on the more important questions, such as “which school would be the best fit for me?”

Today’s terms are:

• full-time student,
• first-time student, and
• transfer student.

Full-Time Student: Unlike high school, most colleges don’t care whether you’re there from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every weekday. If you want, you can take just a single course at a time! (In that scenario, it will take you forever to get a degree, but, now that you’re an adult, you can decide what’s best for you.)

To be considered a full-time student, you will probably need to take either three or four courses every semester, trimester, or quarter. (Different colleges break up the year in different ways.) At most schools, three or four courses will give you about 12–15 credits, or 12–15 hours in class each week. That might not seem like a lot, but, for every in-class hour, you’re generally expected to do two or three hours of out-of-class work. Being a full-time student takes about as much time as working a full-time job.

What’s the benefit of being a full-time student? There are several, but the most important is that it allows you to graduate on time. Full-time students generally can get an associate's degree in two years or a bachelor's degree in four years.

An Intro to Getting College Credit in High School

Depending on your high school, you may have the option to take “college” classes—and perhaps earn college credit—while still a high school student.

There are several different options that your school might give you. The most common ones are AP classes, the IB program, and “dual enrollment” classes with a nearby college. These options are fairly different from each other, but they offer some common benefits.

You can earn advanced placement. If you pass Intro to Psych as a “college” course while in high school, you won’t need to take it again in college. And why study the same subject twice, right? Depending on your future undergraduate school, such classes may also satisfy core curriculum requirements. Basically, you can free up your college schedule so that you’ll be able to take more of the courses you want to take.

You can earn college credit or even advanced standing. If your future undergraduate school awards credit—rather than just “advanced placement”—for these classes, you can apply this credit toward your degree. If you gain enough credits, you may begin college with advanced standing—i.e., as a sophomore rather than as a freshman. (Sophomore standing may qualify you for various perks, including preferential course registration, student housing, parking, etc.) Overall, these credits will shave time off of your college experience. College is usually far more expensive than any of these options, so this substitution makes financial sense.

Before you run out and sign up for every dual enrollment and AP class available (or take the IB program), take a minute to read a little bit more about each option.

College Stress as Seen by High Schools

Last week I posted some tips for keeping calm amid the stress of getting into college. I also pointed out that very selective schools aren’t the only ones that produce successful grads.

I recently found an interesting NPR radio story about college admission stress. The story, however, tackles the issue from the perspective of high schools administrators rather than students.

Some are doing away with AP courses. Others are scheduling “venting” sessions for their students.

The story is under five minutes long and it’s worth checking out. If you’d like to listen to it later, you can download it to a smartphone or an mp3 player.

Getting In: Your Junior-Year Plan

If you’re a high school junior, chances are you’ve thought about college. (The fact that you’re reading this blog is a good sign.) You may not know, however, that winter of your junior year—i.e., right now—is the time to begin the process that will eventually get you there.

You have about 9 months before the earliest college applications are due. For the procrastinators out there (I know, because I am one of them), this may seem like an awfully long time.

To provide some motivation: if you do not start now, no amount of scrambling in the fall will truly make up for it. I crammed my college search process into the fall of my senior year. Because I didn’t do enough research, I was unhappy at the school I chose. I ended up transferring.

After researching and visiting colleges, your biggest job as a junior is to take the right standardized tests, which includes either the ACT or SAT. Beyond that, there are a few small-but-important things you should do in the coming months to boost your admissions prospects and ease the stress of your senior year.

Contrary to popular belief, your senior year is a fairly busy time. In addition to the big school events—e.g., prom, senior day, homecoming—you will be maintaining or improving your grades with the most challenging school work you’ve had so far. (No one reading this is going to “coast” through senior year with easy or few classes, right? You know that looks bad on your college applications, right?) You’ll also be completing your applications, which involves looking up information, writing essays, securing recommendations, and, in general, lots of thought and proofreading.

If you start the college admission process as a junior, you'll also be prepared to submit an early action or early decision application in October or November of your senior year, if appropriate. Many schools now offer an “early admissions” option and it usually gives you better odds of getting in.

Below is a roadmap of the essential college-related activities for your junior year.