An Insider's Perspective: Taking Community College Courses in High School

Launch Education's intern, Shawn Danino, shares how community college classes enhanced his high school education.

In my experience as a high school student at a public school in the suburbs of LA (Taft High School), one of the greatest experiences I had was getting to take courses at my local junior college (Pierce Community College). At my school - and many others across the country - there was a list of courses available to enroll at the community college that we would receive credit for and get the equivalent boost of an AP class. The subjects were diverse and interesting, from Business Fundamentals to Sociology, and the instructors were far more passionate and engaging than the majority I had in high school. In fact, my Introductory Sociology instructor is the man I credit with inspiring me to eventually become a Sociology Major at USC.

The experience of being on a college campus in high school was truly invigorating for me. In contrast to the overcrowded chaos that unfolded at my high school, (we had a shooting right outside the school my freshman year and a riot my junior year) going to a junior college offered a more mature, relaxed setting that was more conducive to learning. While many students opt into taking classes during the school year, I think the best time to enroll is over the summer. During the summer, you don’t have to worry about balancing coursework with as many other commitments.

Community colleges sometimes get a bad rap amongst folks aiming for a four-year school, but I think it’s an unfair bias. Honestly, many of the instructors I had at Pierce rivaled my more ‘reputable’ professors at USC. Furthermore, LAUSD actually pays the entirety of tuition for junior college courses taken during high school - so there’s really no excuse to not consider attending!

It gets better. The beauty of junior college courses is that they are often graded as college courses. At my high school, this meant that one extra grade point was added to my GPA. So essentially, an A was weighed as 5.0 GPA points and a B was 4.0. This was incredibly helpful to my cumulative GPA, which was negatively skewed by a couple B’s I had received in my high school classes. This takes off much of the performance-related stress that comes with AP tests and final exams, since there is much more of a cushion.

Without the regimented daily schedules and bells ordering us that we had 5 minutes to get to the other side of the school, going to junior college made me even more excited about going to a four-year university. The work load can be challenging, but taking two or three classes for a few hours a day makes planning to do your homework a lot more manageable.

Moreover, you have the opportunity to choose your classes, which allows you the time to figure out what you’re best at and what subject areas you enjoy most.

It might sound cliché, but it is a rare opportunity to have full autonomy over your schedule and what courses you take. Taking classes at junior colleges can give your application the edge it needs to get into your dream school. Also, my private SAT tutors not only helped me with scoring big, they taught me the value of time management.