As rising seniors make their course selections for the 2024-2025 school year, the decision between taking AP English Literature and Composition (AP Lit) and English 12 Dual Enrollment (DE) is often a toss-up. With both classes being at the college level and carrying a 1.0 GPA bump, students must look at the differences in curriculum, content, and required skills of the two classes in order to identify which will best fit their academic ambitions.
In terms of college credit, the two are comparable but differ in a few ways. AP Lit is an AP class, meaning that college credit is possible-but not guaranteed-even with a passing grade in the class. Students can receive credit based on their AP exam score, but the acceptance of that credit is left to the discretion of the university they plan to attend. For example, Virginia Tech will award three credit hours for students who receive a score of three on the exam and six credit hours for those who receive a four or five (five being the best possible grade).
English 12 Dual Enrollment, or DE English, is taken through Northern Virginia Community College as a Dual Enrollment course. Students are guaranteed six college credits for passing the class with a C or above from all public universities in Virginia as well as many private universities and out-of-state schools.
“It’s always on a case-by-case basis,” DE English teacher Mrs. Mary Masi said. “If you know what colleges you want to go to, go find out what their acceptance is; like, what do you have to score on the AP exam? Will they take DE?”
Other than the potential for college credit, the biggest difference between the two classes is their focus. AP Lit focuses on the art of creative literature and trains students by assigning a variety of novels, plays, and poetry in and out of class time.
“If you’re more creative minded and you really love literature and really looking to expand your horizons with different literary texts, then AP Lit might be a better choice,” AP Lit teacher Mr. Matthew Sarmiento said.
AP Lit largely concentrates on close reading skills, literary analysis, analyzing different literary techniques, and making connections between different texts, all within the context of fictional works, to help strengthen the skills of those who plan to pursue majors or careers in the field of English.
“It just depends on what kind of skills you really want to focus on and what kind of texts you like to read and analyze,” Mr. Sarmiento said.
On the other hand, DE English centers around non-fiction for its curriculum, with a greater emphasis on the writing process.
“The reason why it differs from all the other English classes is that it’s not a literature course; it’s a writing course,” DE English teacher Mr. Michael Faul said. “You have some readings, but generally, they’re going to be shorter and they’re going to be nonfiction…The emphasis is on the process. For Dual Enrollment, there’s an understanding that ‘Okay, you already have some skills in thinking and writing, now it’s time to take that and grow in your ability to do that.’”
It just depends on what kind of skills you really want to focus on and what kind of texts you like to read and analyze.
— Mr. Sarmiento
DE English students can expect to improve their writing process as they write papers, a skill that is crucial in every college classroom and career.
“It’s less about timed writing and more about taking [students] through the process from brainstorming, drafting, revision, editing, and peer reviewing,” Mr. Faul said. “My hope is that I reduce the level of anxiety when it comes to paper writing.”
Neither class has an official pre-requisite. While students who have taken Honors English or AP Language and Composition in their junior year would be better prepared for either course, a student continuing from the academic level could also succeed.
“[With] work ethic, commitment, and willingness to learn, [students] will definitely have success,” Mrs. Masi said.
