With enrollment coming up, the question has been posed numerous times: Which is better, AP classes or dual credit?

I personally have taken numerous AP classes, as well as dual credit. In my experience, I have benefitted far more from dual credit classes. In dual credit classes, you are for sure getting the credit for the class. It does not all depend on a score you get on a test. As long as you get above a C in the class overall, the credit will most likely transfer to the school you are planning to attend. The one thing to worry about while taking dual credit classes is to make sure that the school you are planning to attend will accept the credit once it has been completed.

On the flip side of things, AP classes are far cheaper than dual credit. The AP test costs $93, whereas dual credit classes costs around $273.10. If you are tight on money, and a good test taker then AP might be the route for you. AP classes are more work from my experience, and a lot riskier. All of your hard work depends on one test taken in April, and you do not know if you got the credit until July. I think it is more logical to pay the extra money and get for sure credit, and not risking a year of hard work on one single test. However, I understand if you are tight on money and AP is the better option for you.

As well as the cost, the workload is very different between AP and dual credit. Dual credit is more like a college class, where the teacher will lecture and then you are expected to get everything for the class done on your own time. You will have more homework in dual credit classes than you do in AP, because AP classes are structured more like a high school class where you have time to work on what you need to get done in class. I think that dual credit classes prepare you more for the future than AP classes do because it is set up exactly how it will be in college. You get a syllabus on the first day of class that maps out the entire semester, and you will follow that schedule no matter what. You know exactly when things are due, and you just have to get everything down by the day they are do. Your grades will mostly be just tests, quizzes, and projects. In AP classes, you have more homework points that will boost up your grade. Your grade may be higher in AP classes because of this, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t get the score you want on the AP exam.

Overall, both AP and dual credit classes are beneficial and a great opportunity for students, but dual credit classes are the smarter and safer option.