Your journey through community college and onto a four-year university is largely influenced by your academic strategy. A well thought out plan, tailored to your unique circumstances and academic abilities, can streamline your transition and significantly impact your success.

A potent tool to optimize your strategic planning is dual enrollment. With this approach, you simultaneously enroll at two different community colleges, one local to you, which serves as your primary campus, and another with a larger class selection, serving as your secondary source for online courses.

This dual enrollment tactic is a game-changer, primarily due to the expanded access it provides to online courses. Online courses offer notable benefits - they can often be more convenient, allow for a more self-paced learning, and eliminate travel time, thereby freeing up more hours for studying or other pursuits.

Furthermore, being enrolled in a second community college with a larger curriculum can vastly broaden your course options. This is particularly beneficial when trying to meet specific prerequisites for your transfer university or when planning around a tight schedule. The objective is to provide you the maximum flexibility to navigate your academic journey.

In the following sections, we will explore four potential strategies, each offering varying timelines and workloads, and designed to cater to different transfer goals. These strategies are not rigid but should serve as a foundation that you can build upon to cater to your unique needs and aspirations.

1. Fast-Track Strategy: Aimed at speedy completion, this strategy takes full advantage of dual enrollment. Enroll in a full course load during the primary semesters (Fall and Spring) at your local community college and supplement your studies with online classes from a larger college. Make the most of the shorter Winter and Summer sessions as well. This approach can lead to an earlier finish, with the gap semester utilized for career development or boosting your application with extracurricular activities.
2. Regular-Track Strategy: If you prefer a more traditional pace, concentrate on the primary semesters, taking a full course load but not leaning heavily on the shorter sessions. Dual enrollment can still be beneficial, offering more options for classes and allowing you to fulfill the standard 60 unit requirement within two years.
3. Slow-Track Strategy: This strategy, ideal for those balancing studies with other responsibilities, involves taking a part-time unit load and spreading out the timeline. The dual enrollment model can provide more flexibility, allowing you to pick and choose courses from two institutions. However, remember to justify this slower pace compellingly in your university applications.
4. Condensed Course Strategy (Experimental): This new strategy we're testing suits non-STEM majors. It involves maximizing the number of condensed, short-session classes taken online during the Summer and Winter, with the assistance of dual enrollment to offer a wider array of courses. But remember, some courses that are either too difficult to condense or require in-person attendance should still be taken during the main semesters.