You’ve decided you want to take a dual enrollment course and you’ve determined that you are eligible. Now, how do you decide what classes to take?
Dual Enrollment students have access to the entire course schedule each semester. It can be tempting to take whatever might look interesting to you but we encourage you to be strategic about selecting your class(es).
Decide what format will be best for you.
On-line: all course content is delivered on-line and you complete the work on your own time.
On-campus: you attend a class on our college campus taught by one of our college faculty
Concurrent: you stay at your high school and take a college-level class that has been approved by the college and taught by one of your high school teachers
Select classes that either supplement or complement your high school curriculum and will help you get a head start on general college core requirements.
Complement your high school curriculum. Work with your high school counselor to review your high school graduation requirements. If there is a class that you can take for dual credit that will meet both high school and college requirements, then select it. (Example: HSTA101 is American History for college and usually US History for high school). Or, if you attend a high school with limited electives or advanced classes, use dual enrollment to supplement your school’s offerings.
Work towards completing your Core. A college Core is a set of classes that every college student takes if they earn a bachelor’s degree, no matter what major they’re in. Each college in the country decides which classes in their Core. In Montana, all of the public colleges and universities have agreed to accept each other’s classes to transfer, and to accept each other’s Core. The means completing the Core at Great Falls College MSU will automatically complete the Core anywhere else in the Montana University System. Check out these two sites for a Core planner and more information:
- Program Requirements - catalog.gfcmsu.edu/academic-programs/montana-university-system-core/#programrequirementstext
- MUS Transfer Core Transferable General Studies Curriculum - mus.edu/Transfer/MUScore.asp
Take some classes in a career area you have interest.
Have a general idea of what you like or what you might want to do in your future? Dual Enrollment is a great way to explore that area and earn college credit at the same time. We call classes that do this “foundational” because they help provide a foundation of knowledge about a certain topic. An example of this kind of class is AHMS144: Introduction to Medical Terminology. This is a class for students interested in health professions. You can find guides for many different career pathways.
Check them out at Montana Career Pathways: www.mus.edu/mcp