PSEO (Pros vs Cons)

Considering PSEO? Don't know if it will add to your high school experience? How will it look on your college application? While you need to make that decision for yourself, I can give you some insight into the program.

Disclaimer: I only took two classes through PSEO, which is considered part time and had a very different experience compared to my friends who were in it full time.

Full Time PSEO

• Can be done Junior, Senior, or both years of high school. 
• Enrolled at the State College of your choice full time. This means that you take on a workload that is similar to a Freshman at the college. For example, if you went to the University of Minnesota you would take four classes each semester, for a total of eight classes per year. 
• All of the college credit you obtain is converted to high school credit so that you can fulfill your high school graduation requirements. 
• Since you are taking a full workload, you will be expected to be on the college campus for most of your time and will not go to high school classes. 
• Although tuition and books are paid for by the state, transportation is not. 

Part Time PSEO

• Can be done Junior, Senior, or both years of high school. 
• Enrolled at the State College of your choice part time. This means that you take on a workload that combined with your high school workload would count as a full schedule. The workload has to be half or less than half of a normal Freshman workload. For example, if you were doing PSEO at the University of Minnesota, you could take up to two classes but not three or four because that would count as a full workload at the college. How many classes you take at the college determines how many classes you need to take at the high school to balance your schedule. All credits are converted into high school credit to determine whether or not you have a full workload on whole. 
• All of the college credit you obtain is converted to high school credit so that you can fulfill your high school graduation requirements. 
• Since you are taking a part time workload, you will have to be on the college campus for some portion of time during the week and you will have to go to your high school classes. 
• Although tuition and books are paid for by the state, transportation is not. 

Pros

• Can take classes that are atypical of course offered at most high schools. 
• Will be in a college environment with college students. 
• Can get a head start on your college career. Since you can do it for up to two years, you can graduate out of high school and enroll in college as a junior. This may be useful if you are thinking of a pre-medical track and want to enter Medical School earlier. 
• Excellent grades in these courses are a huge plus on college applications because they show to admissions officers that you can do well in college courses, which are very different in structure than high school courses. 
• Exert independence by planning ahead and managing homework/tests in a much different way from high school courses. 
• Have the opportunity to build relationships with professors, which are potential candidates for recommendations later down the road when applying to colleges or competitive programs.

Cons

• Classes are usually very DIFFICULT!!! Since you are competing with college students, you are expected to work just as hard. 
• The college grade you get it the high school grade written on your transcript. This means that if you get a B in the class, then a B is factored into your high school GPA. Difficulty of class is not considered!
• Balancing classes at college and extracurriculars at the high school is very difficult. A lot of PSEO students decrease their participation in high school activities simply because the travel between two spaces is too strenuous. 
• Transportation is a little finicky. Minnesota's public transportation has greatly improved in the past few years, but when I was in PSEO I chose to drive because public transportation really wasn't an option. When traffic wasn't there, it was a twenty minute drive, but with traffic, it ended up being an hour. Remember, you will not be reimbursed for transportation!
• Creating a college social life is tricky. PSEO is not going to let you hang out with your high school friends everyday. It is possible to become friends with other PSEO or college students, but you have to make the extra effort - which can be hard to do depending on your personality. 

This is all that I can list for now. If you have any concerns/comments, post them below and I'll try to resolve them.