Plans for a high schooler

[Aurelius]

I was active on this forum years ago in an attempt to finish out my degree and the help here was awesome! It helped me to obtain my TESU degree in a matter of months, and land a much better job. I can’t thank everyone here enough so I thought this would be the best place to start helping my teenager plan for her college credits.

Background - she is amongst the top GPA in her class right now, and is highly self motivated to educate herself. Much better than I was at that age. She’s competing her sophomore year and has several AP classes and is planning on dual enrollment with the local college next year as well.
She’s expressed interest in obtaining as many credits as possible over this summer and upcoming summers to get ahead on earning credits. Basically the goal would be to get as close to a bachelors degree before finishing HS as possible. She is not sure on her major or career path long term, but has done several summer college camps in various medical fields (for fun….). 

Are any of the alternative schools (are they still called the big 3?) an option for her for this purpose? Are CLEP/Test options a better use of her time and/or more transferable?
Thanks!

[rachel83az]

If she can do any dual enrollment options for cheap, that's 100% the best thing she can do right now. TESU now requires at least 30 RA credits. COSC isn't really an option. Excelsior University doesn't currently require any RA/NA credits, but that could change at any point. UMPI isn't an option for students so young. WGU doesn't restrict younger students from attending, but it may not be the best option for a younger student.

What kind of degree does she want, though? She doesn't sound like the type who will be satisfied with just a random degree. Each school has a different number and type of degrees available, so advice will vary depending on what she actually wants to do.

[allvia]

Keep in mind once a student obtains a bachelor they loose all access to (free) financial aid money, such as Pell Grants (and other scholarships). Earning a degree too early without a known end goal can end up costing a younger student both opportunity and money. This is the time to ponder possibilities, especially for a committed and bright student who will likely have more options than many due to a successful high school career.

I would stick with credits such as AP/CLEP (CLEP for free through ModernStates) as they tend to be the most universally transferable. The dual enrollment is a great path to college credits as well, especially since most of the courses available will be Gen Eds (again the most transferable). Maybe look into local programs or volunteering in subject areas that peak the interest of the student - these things also look good on college applications. At this age they should figure out what they'd like to study - the where and how of it still has plenty of time to be worked out. But as mentioned, Gen Eds tend to be universal and they could save a year or two of college if earned before HS ends.

[Aurelius]

Keep in mind once a student obtains a bachelor they loose all access to (free) financial aid money, such as Pell Grants (and other scholarships). Earning a degree too early without a known end goal can end up costing a younger student both opportunity and money. This is the time to ponder possibilities, especially for a committed and bright student who will likely have more options than many due to a successful high school career.

I would stick with credits such as AP/CLEP (CLEP for free through ModernStates) as they tend to be the most universally transferable. The dual enrollment is a great path to college credits as well, especially since most of the courses available will be Gen Eds (again the most transferable). Maybe look into local programs or volunteering in subject areas that peak the interest of the student - these things also look good on college applications. At this age they should figure out what they'd like to study - the where and how of it still has plenty of time to be worked out. But as mentioned, Gen Eds tend to be universal and they could save a year or two of college if earned before HS ends.

I think this is ultimately the goal - highly transferrable credits for wherever she chooses to go, and also showing on college applications that she has completed courses already.

As for the end goal - she is indeed still figuring out that path. She has leaned towards medical/oncology, but also has a strong interest in engineering. I'm sure being a teenager, it will change a few times. She certainly will have options.

As far as financial aid/scholarships - I do pretty well financially now thanks to my TESU degree. We likely would not qualify for financial aid, but I have no doubt she will qualify for academic scholarships in some capacity. 

I like the CLEP idea for sure. I do think she's capable of knocking out as many credits as a college will let her transfer in, but I'm not sure how many credits schools are letting folks transfer in now. She is definitely capable of obtaining her Bachelors concurrently with HS, but I also want her to experience the college environment. But anything that can speed up her path to a degree post HS (I suspect she'll pursue a higher degree) would be welcome for sure.

She rarely asks us for advice, so when she asked me if there is any way she could do some of the online schooling to get ahead like I did, I thought this would be a great place to start. Thank you.

[dfrecore]

It's much easier to get into a schools as a transfer student than a freshman, so that's good to think about. Even somewhere like UC Davis (huge for veterinarians and other majors) has a very low acceptance rate for freshmen, but has a transfer guarantee program from the CA CC system - that's how much easier it is to get in after 2 years.

So, my advice would be to do DE and AP, and spend a LOT of time volunteering at your local hospital - which may have a great program already there and waiting for her.

I'd also have her start to research degrees, and all of the courses required. For an oncologist, it's going to be different than an engineer - and there are many different types of docs, and different types of engineers. So start looking at everything. She'll probably want to cross a few things off of her list after further research.

[CatsDomino]

I agree about looking into transfer options and would encourage you to explore any articulation agreements that your local community college may have with state universities your daughter is interested in.  I know our CCs here have certain pathways for the AA or AS to guarantee junior status when transferred to UNC system universities.  My youngest son just completed his AS last year through our local CC and transferred with junior status to the state university he wanted in his chosen major.

[Aurelius]

I agree about looking into transfer options and would encourage you to explore any articulation agreements that your local community college may have with state universities your daughter is interested in.  I know our CCs here have certain pathways for the AA or AS to guarantee junior status when transferred to UNC system universities.  My youngest son just completed his AS last year through our local CC and transferred with junior status to the state university he wanted in his chosen major.

That's a great approach. She still hasn't really expressed an interest in a specific university (except for doing several summer programs at Clemson). Trying to be as broad as possible for as wide acceptance as possible. We are in Florida where there are a lot of great schools so that's my hope is she stays in state - though at this age, her decisions are heavily influenced by what schools her friends can get into. Hopeful that she matures out of that phase before graduation.

[dfrecore]

I agree about looking into transfer options and would encourage you to explore any articulation agreements that your local community college may have with state universities your daughter is interested in.  I know our CCs here have certain pathways for the AA or AS to guarantee junior status when transferred to UNC system universities.  My youngest son just completed his AS last year through our local CC and transferred with junior status to the state university he wanted in his chosen major.

That's a great approach. She still hasn't really expressed an interest in a specific university (except for doing several summer programs at Clemson). Trying to be as broad as possible for as wide acceptance as possible. We are in Florida where there are a lot of great schools so that's my hope is she stays in state - though at this age, her decisions are heavily influenced by what schools her friends can get into. Hopeful that she matures out of that phase before graduation.

Not to be rude here - but I made it VERY clear to my kids that they would be going to an in-state school unless they got enough in scholarships to pay for tuition, room and board somewhere out of state.  You can make it as clear to yours as that - going out of state is just not an option unless she can pay for it.  Once that's settled, and she knows you mean it, then you can start to look at in-state schools and see what's available, including CC if that's what she needs to finish up before going to a 4yr.

Trust me on this - your kid will thank you for not letting her go into debt (or much more debt); it may be when she's 22 or 25, but she will look back and realize that a degree MIGHT be important, but going to some dream school and then being stuck paying all that debt back later was not worth it.  If you don't believe me, look at all the kids who are drowning in debt now and want the taxpayers to forgive their loans because they can't pay for them, or they're holding them back, they're living at home with their parents, feel like they can't get married or have kids, can't take the job they want because they have to take the one that pays the most even if they want to do something else, etc.

I don't know your circumstances financially, but I do know that you can greatly influence how your kids look at college.  I would certainly advise doing that instead of hoping she'd grow out of wanting to go where her friends go.  If you need to influence them too, that's a great idea - "hey everyone, let's all go to CC and then in-state schools and save a bunch of money!"  Get that mindset going.

[bjcheung77]

@Aurelius, Just wondering, did you go for a Masters after your TESU BSBA?  You're in South Carolina I guess?  For the time being, your daughter should continue the current path of getting dual enrolment credits for courses that can't be completed by AP/CLEP.  With resourceful planning, she can get the Associates at the community college and be more than 3/4 through her Bachelors.

Yes, I'm on board with the current advice of several members, I also think it's a great idea that your daughter is inquiring more into her future career, goals, studies, etc...  It's great to start with the mentioned AP/CLEP, Dual Enrollment, Community College Associates and laddering up towards a Bachelors.  One thing to note is, have her go at her pace and try not to rush through her education...

Currently, I know some states now encourage students to study at the community college as most, if not all, have direct articulation agreements with in-state 4 year colleges/universities.  And some states have 'partnerships' where a student from a community college can complete the entire degree at the college, but will get the degree from the partnership university when done.