WAYS to earn college credit - List

[dfrecore]

Our local CC has a generous CLEP/DSST policy (48 units) and only requires 12 units of residency. On the other hand, many Associates Degrees are a lot more than 60 units from what I can see. My daughter is interested in a AA in Interior Design, and it is 91 units! CRAZY! And a lot of those units won't transfer to the local State college towards her Bachelor's degree (or rather, they will count as units taken, but not for the courses she has to take, which is an additional 57 units she needs in upper-level art). It's looking more and more like around here, CC's have aggressive plans for an Associates degree, which may or may not be helpful if you want to transfer to a 4-year college.

We will probably be sticking with fulfilling the transfer requirements to the local state college, rather than trying to obtain an associates degree unless it is really close (maybe 1 or 2 classes left to complete). But, I'm sure that it totally depends on what the degree is, what the requirements are, what the student's plans are to further their education beyond an AA/AS, etc.

I think this is a case of "begin with the end in mind."

[cookderosa]

So for a high-schooler who gets approval, do you think it is feasible to walk out of high school with an associate degree using all these credits?

Yes and no.
AP exams require you to sit them as they are scheduled, which means you're taking ALL your exams in May of each year. Ouch. I don't think it's realistic to earn high scores (3-4-5) on more than 4 AP exams per school year unless you are exceptional. And, if you are exceptional, you're already headed in the right direction and won't need to worry about collecting an AA along the way. In fact, it's an added cost and moves back the goal post.

That said, AP is only 1 brand of exam. If you use CLEP and DSST, along with dual enrollment and distance learning, an AA or AS is absolutely possible.

[cookderosa]

Our local CC has a generous CLEP/DSST policy (48 units) and only requires 12 units of residency. On the other hand, many Associates Degrees are a lot more than 60 units from what I can see. My daughter is interested in a AA in Interior Design, and it is 91 units! CRAZY! And a lot of those units won't transfer to the local State college towards her Bachelor's degree (or rather, they will count as units taken, but not for the courses she has to take, which is an additional 57 units she needs in upper-level art). It's looking more and more like around here, CC's have aggressive plans for an Associates degree, which may or may not be helpful if you want to transfer to a 4-year college.

We will probably be sticking with fulfilling the transfer requirements to the local state college, rather than trying to obtain an associates degree unless it is really close (maybe 1 or 2 classes left to complete). But, I'm sure that it totally depends on what the degree is, what the requirements are, what the student's plans are to further their education beyond an AA/AS, etc.

I think this is a case of "begin with the end in mind."

When I did my thesis research, I encountered this. The average credits required in an AAS/AOS degree are around 81 as a national average, and you are correct, they do not necessarily transfer. The gen eds inside that degree will, but there will only be a few that qualify- maybe 12 or 15.

[dfrecore]

For the AP testing, you can look at the schedule, which they post online. It's nuts! They only give the exams in a 2-week block, with 2 in the morning (either or, can't take both), and 1-2 in the afternoon (again, either or). So, if your kid wants to take (for example) German and US History, you're out of luck as they are scheduled for the same time. If he wants to take Computer Science and Physics 2, then he takes one at 8am and the other at 12pm. I personally think it would be difficult for most people to do well in that kind of scenario. It might work if you could spread out the AP tests over all 4 years of school, but they might not be ready to take most of the exams the first couple of years.

2015 calendar: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/takin...r#examDate

I agree with Jennifer, you would probably want to do some CLEP/DSST's instead of AP exams if your college will accept them. Then you can schedule on your own time.