Time management is crucial to the success of both high school and college students. This can look like time blocking, having an effective study schedule, and a good system for keeping track of assignments And all are important in order to pass your classes.
The organization and planning of your time can — and should — also be applied to your Dual Enrollment classes.
What is Dual Enrollment & Dual Credit
Dual Enrollment is a program that allows students to enroll in two institutions simultaneously. The most common scenario is a student taking high school and college classes at the same time. Although Dual Enrollment is most known in the United States, the program can be found around the world.
Dual Credit is often a result of students enrolling in a Dual Enrollment course. When you enroll in a college class, if it meets the curriculum requirements for a high school class, you can receive dual credit, or credit for both high school and college.
Your goal to earn a few college credits in high school is great. But earning as much dual credit as possible to graduate high school and college early is another thing entirely. Let’s dive into five valuable tips for you to manage your time while earning dual credit.
Develop Dual Credit Goals
The first step in achieving academic accomplishments, especially in Dual Enrollment, is to create goals. Plans for the future can be as short as one month and as long as 10 years.
A few examples of goals can include:
- Earn a 4.0 G.P.A. for Fall Semester
- Complete 60 college credit hours to receive an associate degree and high school diploma simultaneously
- Receive a Ph.D. at 21 years old
Along with the goals, provide a list of actions that will be taken to reach the targets. Remember, the most effective goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
Plan College Classes to Earn Dual Credit
Beyond your Dual Credit goals, semester planning can also provide a clear path to success. With the help of a college course catalog, a college degree audit, and your high school requirements list, you can identify what high school and college classes you would like to take every semester until you graduate high school.
Those three resources also provide an easy way to analyze if a college class can earn dual credit. Take a close look at the description of the college class. If you discover a college class with a similar description as a high school class, that is a good candidate for dual credit. You may need to supply a college course syllabus to your high school counselor to receive approval, but it will be a strong case for review.
Create the Best Class Schedule for You
A well-thought-out class schedule contributes to time management as much as writing in a planner every day. Not only do college classes provide more flexibility for when a student needs to be in class, but sometimes you also have the opportunity to choose a high school and college schedule that works best for you.
Weekday morning high school classes and Saturday college classes could be an effective class schedule, for example. Examine your priorities (internships, volunteering, athletics, clubs), then decide how to fit a college schedule around it.
Maximize Your Dual Credit Opportunities
There is a lot of overlap between the courses you take as a junior and senior in high school and the courses you take in the first two years of college. The more of those general education courses you take as dual credit, the more money and time you save on your college degree. Make sure you are maximizing your dual credit opportunities.
Taking college courses during the summer as well as spring and fall semesters can certainly increase the amount of Dual Credit you earn. Also, consider scheduling classes that you need versus what you want. For example, you may not find a personal finance class in college to also satisfy a finance requirement in high school, but a microeconomics class in college could satisfy that requirement.
Design a Productive Work Schedule
Once you’ve created a class schedule that works best for you and maximized your dual credit opportunities, you can then design a productive work schedule. Finding time outside of class, work, and other obligations to complete homework and study can be tricky. That goes double for dual enrollment courses.
Luckily, The Dual Enrollment Planner provides Dual Enrollment you with the space to organize your free time to complete upcoming assignments and keep track of Dual Credit received. A feature of the planner that addresses this tip is My Ideal Week, where you can plan when class is and when to do homework.
Dual Enrollment classes are a unique opportunity for you to excel in your current school and at a higher education institution. Dual Credit is icing on the cake for you to advance and possibly graduate early from high school and/or college. Time management is the perfect skill for you to develop so that your early college journey can be one to remember.
Amara Leggett, also known as “A Young Legend,” is the author of The Strategic Mind of A Young Legend, speaker, and CEO of the Dual Enrollment Company. She received her Associate of Science degree and high school diploma at 16 as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at 19 years old. She helps students graduate early and debt-free with Dual Enrollment.
