Both let a high schooler earn college credit before graduation, but they earn it in very different ways. Which one pays off depends less on prestige and more on where your student is actually headed.
Kate Carter
Georgia asks for 23 units, including four years each of math and science, more than most states. There is no exit exam anymore, but the HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships set a separate, higher bar. Here is the full breakdown.
Kate Carter
A Florida valedictorian graduated with a weighted GPA of 11.99, far above the supposed 4.0 ceiling. Here is how weighted and unweighted GPA actually work, why a number can climb into double digits, and why colleges recalculate it anyway.
Mary Johnson
Steinbrenner High valedictorian Vaibhav Bhaskar finished with a record 11.99 weighted GPA by stacking 20 AP classes and 24 dual-enrollment courses. Hillsborough County is now capping GPAs so no one can do it again. Here is why.
Mary Johnson
California sets a course-based state minimum to earn a diploma, but your district almost certainly requires more, and the A-G pattern for UC and CSU is a separate thing entirely. Here is what the state actually mandates, what is changing this decade, and how to read your own district's rules.
Kate Carter
Graduating high school in the US comes down to credits, a required course mix, and a shrinking list of exit exams. Here is how the pieces fit together, what varies by state, and the newer requirements that older siblings never had to meet.
Kate Carter
