Families touring our high school often ask a version of the same question. Should my student take AP courses, dual enrollment courses, or both?
Both are good options. Both put a student in college-level work before graduation. They are not interchangeable, though, and the difference matters most when a student applies to selective universities.
What each one is
An Advanced Placement course follows a framework set by the College Board and ends with a national exam in May. A student in Dulles takes the same AP Calculus BC exam as a student in Boston or Seoul, and it is scored on the same 1-to-5 scale.
A dual enrollment course is a college course, taken online or on a college campus. The grade goes on a college transcript, and the credit belongs to the college that offered the course.
Why we recommend AP first
The answer comes down to portability.
AP means the same thing to every admissions office in the country. An admissions reader at a university in California knows exactly what a 5 on the AP Biology exam represents.
Dual enrollment credit is less predictable. Whether it counts depends on the policy of the university the student eventually attends. Private, out-of-state and highly selective universities often review it differently from public universities in the same state. Some selective universities grant little or no credit for either path, but as a record of rigor in admissions, AP is the better-known signal.
The very top US Universities, like Harvard and Princeton, will not give any credits for AP or Dual Enrollment classes. However, they use them as part of the college admissions process and an AP course has more clout than a community college course. Top 25 universities that do give AP credits are often very selective and will only give credits for a test result or a 4 or 5.
For these reasons, our guidance is simple. Take the AP course when there is one. Use dual enrollment to go further in a subject where no AP course exists.
How it works at Fairfax Christian School
We offer more than 20 AP courses across the four years of high school. Courses rotate, so a student's path is planned with a dean, not chosen from a fixed list.
When a student is ready for a subject we don't offer as an AP course, dual enrollment fills the gap. Students may take approved online college courses, including during a designated class period in the school day, or courses at Northern Virginia Community College. They earn high school credit for the work. Families arrange and pay for these courses directly with the college.
What this means for your student
Advanced coursework is not reserved for a few students. With the right sequence and the right support, every student can be ready for college-level work in ninth grade and certainly by junior or senior year. Planning that sequence early, in ninth or tenth grade, matters more than any single course choice.
Plan your student's path with us. Book a personal tour, or an admissions consultation by telephone, WeChat or WhatsApp, and one of our deans will walk you through how AP fits your student's goals.
