Whether you’re earning individual credits to get ahead or to graduate on time, online credit recovery classes are a great way to stay focused on your full-time classes while earning extra high school credits in your spare time. If you’re thinking about enrolling in one or more of Excel High School’s individual courses, here are the steps you need to take to make the most of your time.
Get Approval from Your School
Your first step before enrolling in an online course is to check with your school ahead of time to ensure that our courses meet their guidelines. Excel High School welcomes all students to enroll with us, but each school district has different expectations for students when it comes to taking credit recovery courses. Since Excel is regionally accredited through Cognia, most public high schools located within the United States will gladly accept our credits. However, you should be ready to provide our accreditation information to your high school guidance counselor when you talk to them before enrolling to be sure you’re on the right track. One of those special circumstances is the state of California, so students in California should check into our University of California A-G Approved Online Courses to meet the expectations for that state when it comes to high school credit requirements.
Some school counselors will want to see a copy of the course syllabus before they give their approval for an online course, so being prepared with the course syllabus will help you get the approval process completed a lot more quickly. Excel not only has all of our courses listed online, but our syllabi are posted for you to share with your school as well. When you are ready to either meet with or send an email to your counselor, be sure you have a link to the course syllabus included to prevent any delays to earning your credits through our online single course option.
Choosing Your Classes
Excel allows part time students to enroll in up to four individual classes, but you will want to consider the amount of free time you have to work on classes before you commit to any set number of courses. Because Excel is unlike your usual school, you have the option of enrolling in and working on one class at a time. Depending on your schedule, you can finish your first course within thirty days after enrollment and then add additional courses by completing our online payment form and indicating the next individual course you would like to take. If you are feeling motivated and have the time to dedicate to extra classes, getting ahead with your credits will happen more quickly than you might think.
Getting Started
Enrollment is easy. You will need your personal, family, and payment information during the enrollment process. However, once the online enrollment process is completed, you will receive a Welcome Email and have access to your online courses within 24 to 48 hours. That Welcome Email includes valuable information and policies, so once you enroll, you will want to read that email and save it for future use.
Your next step is to login to your course right away on our website to make sure the class you’re taking is a good fit for your learning style and schedule. Here are some important details to keep in mind:
- Excel High School has a 10-calendar day full refund period.
- You have a full 12 months from the day you enroll to complete your course.
- Our classes are 100% self-paced, so you are in charge of when and where you will do this work.
Tips for Success
Online, self-paced learning is a little bit different than sitting in a classroom with a teacher who keep tabs on your progress. As an online school since 2004, we’ve learned a thing or two about how successful online students work.
The most successful students make themselves a set schedule to finish their course by the time they need it. This means planning ahead. Because you have 12 months to complete your coursework, that can sometimes play tricks on you if you are at all prone to procrastination. Before you know it, you could be on month 7 and only 10% through the class. Here are some helpful scheduling tips to be sure you finish your class on time.
- As soon as you enroll, set up a realistic plan for how many lessons you will complete each week to be done by your goal date.
- Share that plan with your family members and ask them to hold you accountable.
- Schedule specific days and times to work on your course. Using the calendar app on your smartphone can help you stay on track.
- Find yourself a location free of distractions where you can be dedicated to the work. This could be at the kitchen table, in your bedroom, or at the public library.
- Be smart about your transcript. Processing your transcript to be sent to your local school can take anywhere between 3-10 business days depending on when you request it, so plan ahead to avoid any last-minute panic for you or your school counselor.
Getting Help
Because you will be studying independently and on your own schedule, there might be times when you get stuck. At Excel, we know that independent learning doesn’t mean doing everything 100% on your own, so we have some built-in supports that you can use before your frustration levels get too high.
- Email your instructors from within your online course. They are there to help you and should respond within 24 hours.
- Send a Support Ticket. Although we do want you to email your instructors first, sending a support ticket is one way to get some help understanding the basics of your course.
- Send a chat on our website. If you need immediate help during our normal business hours, you can send us a message using the chat feature right on our website.
At Excel High School, we want to see our students succeed whether they are enrolled full- or part-time. That’s one of the reasons we offer any of our individual classes for any student to take, within the United States or around the globe. Use your motivation to get ahead or catch up by enrolling today, and you’ll earn those credits before you know it.
