Hi,
My own experience now quite a few years ago, I took one university course during my senior year in high school, auditing, good experience, was very illuminating as to what university was like which I think helped me have some insight into choosing a u for the following year. The subject material wasn't particularly hard and it was nice to learn I could handle that level. I couldn't consider taking it for credit as the u was an hour away and I couldn't be there for sure every time. After starting u myself I saw a upper level class in that subject, not usually open to freshmen, approached the teacher and they said no problem, take the class. That led to a research assistant job starting as a freshman with that professor, something other students didn't usually do til later on, so all around a great thing for me. She gave me a nice reference helping me get into the next school after university. (Also led to a boyfriend who was a junior which was a cool thing.)
My husband took AP calculus as a sophomore in HS and then took 2 for credit math and physics courses a semester for the next 2 years at his local state U. No one apparently asked him whether he wanted to do that or not, he was just signed up by his parents with the idea that that was the natural course of events for someone who'd finished with what high school had to offer. His high school was helpful in rearranging his other curriculum and he graduated with his class. He says it was a good experience, he liked the material and was able to transfer all the credit to his eventual university. His grades were not particularly good but the transferred credits did not take the grade info along with them so no harm done. He eventually gave up math in university (thinks he probably would have whether or not he'd taken extra classes ahead) but all those advanced credits gave him room to follow some interests beyond just the required courses for his major. He did wish that the local U math teachers had been more enthusiastic, but says that at his eventual more prestigious U they weren't that great either and he doesn't think that turned him off of math. As a perk of university, he got a college ID that he used to get into local bars.
Polly
