Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Associates Degree worth acquiring? Downsides?

One of my kids completed and associates degree via a dual enrollment program.

Advantages:

* In some states (including ours), if you have an associates degree, you are guaranteed admission to at least one campus of the big state universities. So, here, you’re guaranteed admission to one of the second-tier UC’s.

* He got a passel of credits that gave him “junior status” even though he enrolled as a freshman at a private college. This is actually a big deal. In practical terms, it means that he gets to register for classes with the juniors, which means he’s enrolling ahead of the sophomores and the freshmen. So he gets the classes/professors/times he wants. It’s a big deal because the people registering for classes at the same time he is aren’t registering for the same classes he is.

* Some of his community college classes counted toward his major. This means that, in the future, he will have light semesters (or he’ll be able to double major with less stress and/or time). Some of his community college classes counted toward his major. This may count anyway for your kids.