Alicia Bulitka

Posted on Thursday, July 7th, 2016

How did you learn about the dual credit program? Who did you complete your application with?

I was going to be in the AP course and then I switched my courses to college level. My guidance counsellor wanted to challenge me a little. My guidance counsellor approached me. It was also posted on a bulletin board at school. I was changing my courses, so she said, “Why don’t you consider this?”

Did you attend an orientation session? What did you find most helpful about orientation?

NA

Did you feel well prepared for the course?

In general, yes. Rob, our instructor, was good at telling us the outline, so you know everything that is going to happen. You know what is going to happen when and if it’s going to be worth something or not.

Do you think the dual credit was a good fit?

I like it. I like our college instructor’s teaching style and how it is new material and not just the same stuff we learn in high school.

Did you require any accommodations? Were they met?

In general, I don’t need extra time, but if I needed help with the wording of something, the college instructor has online office hours so I was able to access him quickly. He also has Skype appointments available. He has his hours posted. If it’s within those hours, it’s usually not long. If it’s after those hours, you’re going to have to wait until the next day.

How was transportation?

NA

How did you find the technology aspect of the course?

I don’t like that you can only submit things through word. Otherwise, it’s pretty good. I could go pull up the whole Blackboard page in class and go through the slides.

What were the greatest differences between high school and college?

Assessment and Evaluation: It is a lot different than high school. You know how everything is weighted, which is cool. We’ve had a lot of things where you’re like, “it’s not worth a lot,” but it turns out that 2% is more than you think. He’s very good about deadlines because they’re usually due by about 8 p.m. the day they’re due. It’s not like you have to rush to finish things within the class period if it’s an in-class assignment.

High school deadlines are not exactly set in stone because you have to get a second chance no matter what, and even after that you can get extensions if you go to the principal.

Adjusting to the deadlines for assignments and tests: I found you didn’t have as much time as you’re used to in high school. The greatest difference between high school and college would be “Deadlines are final in college.”

The dual credit course helped keep me engaged in school.

I’m in co-op as well, so it’s my only course this semester. I have to actually show up and you have to do homework. If it was just the other English class, it wouldn’t have been as much of a necessity. It kept me motivated to come to school.

If you needed to communicate with your College instructor, what was the best way?

You can email the college instructor whenever. His hours are posted. At the end of class, he’ll be there and you can talk to him if you need to. If you need help editing something or just need to bounce ideas off of him to get started on something, he was pretty good.

Challenges?

Figuring out how to balance my college course stuff and my high school stuff, and having to organize my time and meet deadlines.

Some of our stuff overlaps, which is cool because I don’t have to do the projects two times.

Would you recommend that other students take a dual credit? Why or why not?

It would depend on what it is.

Do you have any advice for other students entering the program?

The dual credit program is harder than you think it is. Pay attention in class, take notes, and manage your time.

What do you hope to do once you’ve graduated from High School?

I’m not going into a typical college stream. I’m doing an apprenticeship. It’s not really going to do much, but I was looking at different courses, and for some of the courses I was looking at it could’ve applied towards my apprenticeship.

Last Say/best advice

The dual credit program connected well with my SHSM. The essay we have to do right now is about my high skills major. There was an ability to connect with it.

It is harder than you think it is. Pay attention in class, take notes, and manage your time.

It’s cool to do. Why not try new things?

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