Are you a high school student interested in taking courses that your high school doesn’t offer? Then, community college courses may be perfect for you! Community college classes can be a great way for high schoolers to take more advanced courses and prepare for college. There are two parts to answering the question about whether or not you should take community college courses as a high schooler: one, how can you take community college courses in addition to your regular high school coursework; two, why you should take community college courses.
Let’s address the first part of this question: how can you take community college courses along with your regular high school coursework?
Many high schoolers may believe that community college courses are only for students enrolled in the college. While this may be true for a few select classes, the majority of community college classes are open to the general public, from children to senior citizens. Although high schoolers may only be allowed to be enrolled in introductory classes at a community college, there are still a wide variety of options that a student can choose from.
The process to enroll in community college classes varies from high school to high school. Some high schools have defined programs that allow students to take community college courses as a replacement from their regular high school coursework. Such schools give credit to students taking community college courses and treat the community college courses as regular classes offered by the school itself. Such programs, however, are typically more common in smaller high schools or those that do not offer many advanced classes because the programs let high schoolers take challenging, advanced classes they wouldn’t have been able to take otherwise. In addition, these programs can help high schoolers strengthen their transcripts and prepare for college.
However, the more common situation is that high school students may choose to take community college courses without receiving any credit from their high schools. While this may not seem beneficial, it is actually very helpful in college applications. Taking a community college course without being forced to shows a student’s genuine passion for learning more about the fields that interest them.
For more information about the process your specific high school uses for taking community college courses in conjoinment with your high school coursework, consult your school administration, specifically your guidance counselor, registrar, vice principal, or even the principal.
Now that we know how to take community college courses, let’s talk more about the second part of the question: why should you take community college courses? This part of the question is especially important to address because there should be some benefits you receive for going to a community college, enrolling in a community college course, and potentially even paying for it. So, let’s get into what benefits you receive from taking a community college course.
- You can take more advanced classes. If your high school doesn’t offer certain advanced classes, taking them at a community college can be a great way to strengthen your transcript. If your high school doesn’t offer many or even any AP classes, you may be concerned that your school’s lack of challenging classes will put you behind other students when applying to and starting college. You may also be particularly strong in a certain subject and want to take an advanced course in it, either because you have taken all your high school’s classes in that subject, or they are not challenging enough for you. Taking classes at a community college while you are still in high school can help prepare you for college classes and possibly allow you to skip some introductory classes once you get to college.
- Taking community college courses can help your college application stand out. Having college classes on your transcript is a great way to strengthen your transcript and your college applications. Your community college classes may be included on your high school transcript, labeled in such a way to show they are college-level classes, or, if not, you can include your community college transcript with your applications.Taking community college classes in high school shows that you can take initiative, are hard working, and have strong academic skills, which are all qualities colleges like to see in applicants.
- You’ll be better prepared for college. If you want to learn more about what the college class experience is like, taking community college classes is a surefire way to introduce yourself to the rigor of college-level classes and determine how you do in a college setting. College classes, even at community colleges, are usually more difficult and faster-paced than high school classes, and by taking one or more in high school, you can be better prepared for university classes. This will likely help you get better grades and feel less stressed as a college student.
- Taking community college classes is not an expensive endeavor. Contrary to what most high schoolers may believe, taking classes at a community college is pretty cheap. Although it varies from college to college, you may not have to pay more than $100 dollars to enroll in a community college class (when I took my community college course, the only costs I actually faced were obtaining a textbook)! Taking community college classes is a great, cheap alternative to taking much more expensive courses on websites such as Coursera or Udacity.
Some final things to consider when deciding whether or not to take community college classes:
- Make sure you have enough time to devote to the class. If you are too overwhelmed by school work and other extracurricular activities, consider taking the community college class at another time. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you do not get good grades in the community college class.
- Pick a class you know you would enjoy. Make sure you take classes that you are SURE that you would enjoy. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you are constantly bored and reluctant to participate and give your full attention to the class because you don’t like the topic. It is natural for your interests to change over time, but try to pick a class you know you won’t regret taking.
- Make sure this type of learning fits your style of learning. In a community college course, professors expect their students to be mature and advanced enough to keep track of their learning independently. While professors will teach and lecture, most will assign homework and assessments and expect their students to remember and follow through. If this way of learning does not suit you, then it is likely you many not flourish in a community college course. However, it is crucial to learn how to balance your own schedule and classes, and a community college course is a great way of learning how to do so. If you plan on pursuing higher level education after high school, you will have to learn these skills at some point, so might as well start early!
- Take it slow. I would highly recommend taking one community college class at a time. Any more than this and you may end up overwhelmed, burnt out, and frustrated.
From personal experience, I know that there are many benefits of taking a community college class During my high school career, I took one community college class: online General Psychology. I was curious about the field, and my high school did not offer an advanced psychology class so I turned to my community college instead. I absolutely loved this class: I learned immensely, even in an online setting. It was not nearly as challenging as I expected it to be; the course load was not too burdensome for me, and I genuinely learned about the field of psychology. Additionally, I was able to fulfill credits at my school by taking the class, and the class was even added to my resume after I talked to my school guidance counselor. Overall, I had a very positive experience taking community college courses and I would highly recommend other high schoolers to take a community college course in a subject of their interest. However, make sure to consider my above points to make sure a community college course is the right fit for you.