4 Unseen Benefits of a College Prep Curriculum

July 29, 2022 byConnections Academy

7 min to read

Online High School Student doing college prep school work

For many young adults, attending college is the gateway to future success. In fact, research shows that those who hold a bachelor’s degree earn hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their lifetimes than those who only have a high school diploma.

Clearly, it’s worthwhile for you to send your child to a high school that offers strong college prep courses. But did you know that getting a head start on college isn’t the only benefit to a college prep curriculum?

When high school students prepare for success in college, they enjoy a number of lesser known benefits. Here are the four most important:

1. Developing Critical-Thinking Skills Early

When colleges look at high school transcripts, they look at more than GPA—many also look at how difficult a student’s courses were. Did they follow the simplest path to graduation or did they challenge themselves along the way?

Taking courses that can catch a college’s attention is so important. In fact, experts recommend students start planning their course path from the moment they become high school freshmen. With a four-year plan, students can build up to the most advanced courses, which are often restricted to upperclassmen.

While these college prep courses obviously help students appeal to colleges, they also help students develop strong critical-thinking skills earlier than some of their peers. The challenging nature of advanced STEM, language arts, foreign language, and other college prep courses require students to think deeply about subjects and learn how to analyze and assess new information.

The critical-thinking skills they develop in their teens can come in helpful as they mature into adulthood. Young adulthood is filled with challenges as well as temptations. Those who can critically assess opportunities and risks increase the likelihood they will succeed during those important years.

A virtual school student taking college prep courses.

2. Saving Money and Time

In addition to advanced courses, a strong college prep curriculum also offers students the ability to earn college credit. These aren’t college prep courses—they’re actual college courses students can take in high school, which means students can earn actual college credit before graduating.

If a student possesses college credit before they enter college, they won’t have to earn as many credits to earn their degree. Simply put: They have a head start. And this can save money and time. Some colleges charge by the credit and some by the year or semester. If your child needs fewer credits and/or can graduate early, you will pay less for their education.

So how can your child earn college credit in high school? There are two main ways:

Advanced Placement® (AP®*) Courses

Advanced Placement courses, also known as AP courses, are part of the AP program developed by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. The AP program allows students to take a college-level exam in a specific subject while in high school and potentially earn college credit.

To learn the knowledge contained in an AP exam, students take an AP course administered by their high school. Typically, students spend a full school year in the course and take the AP exam near the completion of the school year. Students receive a score of 1 through 5 on their AP exam and can submit their results to individual colleges. Most colleges will award college credit for a score of 4 or 5.

Dual Enrollment

High schools that offer dual enrollment give students the opportunity to take courses through a college and earn both college and high school credit. Typically, students can choose to take their college courses online or on the college campus. Since most colleges allow students to transfer credits between colleges, students in dual enrollment programs can apply the credit they earn toward a degree at many colleges they may ultimately attend.

A student taking online college prep courses.

3. Enjoying New Experiences

There are a lot of colleges out there, and they all have admissions departments that decide who gets in and who doesn’t. While college acceptance rates vary by school, one thing holds true across the board: The more your child stands out, the better chance they have of getting accepted.

The most important factors in getting accepted into a college are good grades and test scores. However, extracurricular activities play an important role, too, because they differentiate students from their peers. This is why extracurricular activities can be considered a type of college prep course—and why schools with strong college prep for high school students help guide their students toward extracurriculars that fit their personality and strengths.

The more committed a student is to their extracurriculars, the more they’ll stand out to colleges. But that’s not the only benefit of extracurriculars. Whether a student is a musician, athlete, artist, or is participating in any other kind of extracurricular activity, they are gaining experiences they otherwise wouldn’t have.

These experiences can help them grow as they head into young adulthood and will create great memories they can look back on years later. Extracurriculars are also a great way to meet friends who share their interests and goals. And since most extracurriculars include an aspect of competition and/or performance, they teach high schoolers important lessons about success and failure, preparing them for the realities of life.

4. Developing Life Skills

Extracurricular activities aren’t the only kind of college prep course that prepares students for more than college. In fact, all college prep courses help students build important life skills. These include:

Responsibility

Taking more advanced courses and participating in extracurriculars requires students to learn how to manage their time in a way that lets them meet their personal goals and the expectations set by others.

Communication Skills

Whether it’s the teamwork inherent in many extracurricular activities or the essays and projects common in advanced coursework, students in college prep courses gain valuable experience working with others and communicating their thoughts and feelings.

Confidence

Completing college prep courses is challenging. When students push themselves further than most of their peers and succeed, they gain confidence in themselves and are more likely to take on important challenges later in life.

Creativity

Advanced courses expect students to do a lot more than memorize facts. They must learn to apply what they’ve learned, which requires them to engage their creativity. This is as true for the experiments in STEM courses as it is for the performances in arts courses. Creativity comes from everywhere and college prep courses ignite it.

Versatility

Spending the morning in a calculus course, the afternoon practicing an instrument, and after-school participating in the astronomy club helps students who are following a college path become well-rounded. This versatility will be particularly helpful when they venture out into the modern, fast-changing world.

A young woman enjoying the benefits of college prep courses for high school students.

Where Can You Find Strong College Prep for High School Students?

Knowing that a college prep curriculum comes with a lot of benefits is one thing. Knowing where you can find such a curriculum is another matter.

When choosing the right high school for your child, you aren’t limited to the local brick-and-mortar public school. High-quality, online public schools have expansive college prep curriculums that can help your child get ahead. Connections Academy®, for example, has a college prep curriculum that includes advanced courses, gifted and talented programs, and foreign language courses in a variety of world languages. Our online school also includes numerous student clubs and extracurriculars, which are just a few of the ways students are able to build social skills while learning from home or in any other setting outside of a traditional school building.

In other words, online college prep courses can be just as beneficial as college prep courses at a traditional, in-person school. In some cases, they even have added advantages. For example, many students appreciate the flexibility of online college prep courses. In particular, they like that they can complete coursework at the time of day that works best for them and even arrange their week to best accommodate their most difficult subjects. Instead of conforming to the often strict schedules of traditional school, students in online school have the space they need to learn in the way that works best for them.

If you’re seeking a school with a strong college prep curriculum for your high school student, an online school like Connections Academy could be just what your child needs. To learn more, check out our article on the benefits of online school.

*AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.