Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy High School Credit for Middle School Work

Oh, one late addendum to my post: in our state, I think those dual enrollment things only give the child college credit if the class is taught by a college instructor (not a high school one) in a class consisting of a majority of college students. So a special set-up on the grounds of the high school for the high school students would solve the "what to do when you run out of courses" dilemma, but it probably wouldn't earn college credit.

So if you don't want the child in a college classroom at all yet, this might not be the solution for you.

Kriston--those are great articles! I read the first 2 and will read the others later. Thank you.

Our state does pay for dual enrollment and the district buys books, BUT they only want this for jrs. & srs. In my mind, I could just go around the district and do it on my own. The transportation issue (with 4 kids, 3 potentially suitable to take college courses, it is a bit overwhelming).

In addition to what Kriston has posted, I read someplace that the credits earned at the college, while in high school, are not transferable to other colleges. They will be included on the transcript if the student continues in that college after high school. I don't know if thats a quirk in just my local University, my state, or all over.

I think in our state that sophomores can dual enroll, too. You might want to double check the age limits. That may still be too little too late for you, but it may be possible to go younger if you ask. Worth a try at least.

Hi Guys:
Have not read the articles posted by Kriston yet, but had to chime in...
We will be facing that very same situation shortly, but when I inquired with the GC of the prospective HS, she said "we will accomodate every child, we do have some pretty advanced kids". I know that the kids are allowed to take classes at the state flagship, but I do not know if they have to be juniors to do that...
One local school that is a dual enrollment school, and "officially" they say that it is for juniors and seniors only, but in practice, if you are a sophomore and your ACT is is 23 or higher, you can ask for an exepmtion and it is always granted. Why don't they talk about it openly? There is not a lot of kids like that!
Our plan is not to graduate early, but math will be a problem. DS will take Pre-Calc next year in 8th grade and after that I want him to take AP Calc BC. I do not know yet what the school's reaction is going to be to the AP class as a freshman, but I know for sure that they currently have a 7th grader who is in Pre-Calc,(the school has a magnet program for 7th and 8th graders), so if they are allowing for that.....

On another note, I found out about a different problem. It happens when your child does get credit for HS classes taken in Middle School. The grade gets calculated into their HS GPA. No problem if the grade is A, but if it is lower, you are messing up with the GPA. Not a pretty picture.

I think the grade can be a problem with dual enrollment, too, Ania. Good point. If a kid has a lot going on and a lot of college classes while still in high school, the GPA might be affected.

College classes require a lot more time and independence, so it might not work well for every HG+ high school kid if the GPA is a concern. I do think colleges will look hard at a child taking college math courses at 15 or younger though, even if the kid's GPA isn't perfect, provided they realize that the classes are college classes. The college application essays would be vital in that case, I think.

^^totally agree.
While I absolutely hate to judge the kid by a grade they receive, a potential problem facing GT kids is a low GPA compared to high SAT/ACT scores. Top colleges will view an applicant like that as lazy.

It is common to have a "weighted" GPA when dual enrolled. The college courses count for 1 grade/number higher than the high school courses. So a C in a college course = a B in a high school course. There's always chatter about weighted vs. non-weighted GPA on College Confidential. I think you just have to be clear on which you are declaring, in order to have everything add up correctly.

I could be very wrong about this, but I don't believe college courses are weighted in my state. At least, at the meeting I was at where I heard about all this stuff (and listened with only one ear because my DSs were only 3 & 6!), grades were a concern and no one reassured parents with this bit of info.

I realize this isn't much help, but grades and weighting would certainly be something to check on.

That's what I've been hearing too, GPA is king.

Neato