Dual Credit is something familiar at MHS, but for many students at other schools, it is something that they never do. Here at Melissa, students are given the unique opportunity to take up to four Dual Credit classes their junior and/or senior years. The school’s partnership with Collin College allows students to stay on Melissa’s campus to take these classes.

Dual Credit allows students to receive both high school and college credit at the same time. While for most this is a great opportunity, there also are some consequences. The grades students earn go on both their high school and college transcripts. These classes are not for the faint of heart.

Senior Abbey Maldonado explained her reasoning behind choosing dual credit this past year.

“One of my biggest reasons I decided to take dual credit was because it would get me ahead of the game for college,” she said.

Depending on which classes students take during high school, they can graduate with almost 30 college credit hours. This year, dual credit is offered for both online and in-person learners. One of the most challenging parts of dual credit is the workload. But with students having been honors students, Maldonado agrees she felt prepared for the workload of dual credit.

Another unique difficulty is the mix of online and in-person learning methods.

“It can be difficult when some of your classes or labs are completely online,” Maldonado said, “and you don’t see your teacher every day and have never met them.”

For example, no matter whether the student is a virtual learner or an in-person student, economics and government are online for everyone at MHS. This has encouraged many students to grow their technology skills if they need to have questions answered.

For those considering dual credit next year, Maldonado gives some advice:

“Go for it. You’ll never know if you can handle the class if you don’t try it out. You can always drop if it is too difficult, and return to an on-level course. But if you can do it, then work hard at it. Most of my friends and I are graduating with 30 credit hours, which is equivalent to a full YEAR of college. FOR FREE. You can’t beat that.”