Hi. So I am fourteen years old, and completing something like my second year of high school. My parents just basically made me take these extra courses and have private tutors in elementary and middle school so I could start high school a bit ahead. I don’t resent it and I’m glad they pushed me for the most part.
I am striving to get into MIT, CMU, or an Ivy, and apparently might be leaving high school to open up my time for competitions/internships/research w/ a prof/more classes. My parents have me going to a community college this summer, but I may be leaving my HS to go there full time starting this fall. This is okay w/ me ig bc I’ll still be in ECs with my peers and I’ll be in the same city and all, but I guess I just hv my misgivings about all of it.
I guess my parents have already really decided, but does anyone here think this will be bad for me in any way? Idk but being fourteen and with a bunch of college-age students could isolate me a bit, yeah? I have a lot of HS & uni age friends and it’s ok but idk. Basically, just any tips or advice would really help me rn!! Thank you.
Maybe that top colleges won’t be forgiving of low grades just because you got them at a CC. If you aren’t getting pretty much perfect grades at your HS now, don’t do it.
Also, depending on how the arrangement with the Community College is structured, you may be sacrificing your opportunity to apply a top college as a freshman. You could be considered a transfer student instead, and then it can be even harder to get in. If it is a duel enrollment or state program that allows HS students to take some college classes, then it is likely okay.
Finally, be sure you are still fulfilling what the colleges say they want on their websites. A certain number of years of English, social studies, foreign language, etc.
Fundamentally, great ECs won’t offset academic shortcomings.
Socially, it is good that you can still do ECs with your friends. Keep up with them outside of your class time. Sometimes CCs have a fair number if older students, too (beyond normal college age). But you may learn the lesson that it took my kids a long time to accept — friends don’t have to be your age. Take friendship where you find it — you might be surprised at who you can connect with. But don’t let any new friends be a bad influence, either.
I don’t really understand what’s the rush but maybe I don’t know the background. Why were your parents set on having you finish school so early? Are you profoundly gifted? Were you bored at school? Of course being 14 in college is tough, especially as normal community college crowd is probably very far from you in interests and may be older on average than other college students. This doesn’t mean you cannot thrive there. But in general, excuse me for saying this but it doesn’t sound like your parents are interested in any input from you and this raises a red flag for me as a mom.
I think your parents are doing you a disservice. Rushing through HS will not help you get into a top tier college, in fact it could be a negative (there could be concerns about a student being less mature, not quite ready for the independence of college life).
To be fair, they might not be full pay if this is a dual enrollment situation or a program in their state that allows HS students to take college classes. The key question is when/how you are awarded your HS diploma. If the courses are taken before you are considered a HS grad, then you are likely okay. But if you are just withdrawing from HS and going to CC, that is a different story.
All of the courses I complete at the CC will be on my high school transcript; nothing will transfer. My parents are just kind of tiger parent-ish and it’s cheaper for them to put me through a community college bc of some financial issues.
I don’t think there are any alternatives I could suggest to them, so I’m just trying to think of ways to make the best of it and fit in at a CC.
^^^ yes! really look into what intparent is mentioning.
we’ve learned the hard way about transfer scholarships. A state flagship offered my D lots of $$; she turned it down to go elsewhere, now she’s transferred to state flagship with NO scholarship $$. SO be very careful about what you are considered with credits and your HS diploma.
If your parents think they will save a lot of tuition at a top college, that is not necessarily the case. The colleges may not accept some or all of the CC credits. (Maybe they want it both ways – be an incoming frosh and get the admissions and financial boost from that, and also transfer a lot of credits). That may or may not work, they should look carefully at the school policies before taking the CC path for cost reasons. Or is there some other financial aspect I’m not understanding?
In our school district there is a program called Middle College where instead of Junior and Senior years in HS kids take cc classes for free to fulfill HS requirements. These courses go on a HS transcript like regular HS classes (I don’t believe extra point is given like it is for AP or qualifying Honors classes), a kid graduates with a HS diploma and starts college as a freshman, but some of the cc courses completed for HS requirements also satisfy state colleges (including UC) GE requirements, so in the end it could mean financial savings of completing public in-state unit in 3 or even 2.5 years. I am not sure how useful it is for elite privates, for example, USC has a great articulation agreement with CA cc’s, but they won’t give credit for classes taken for high school requirements.
Our guidance counselor said we have “a number” of kids in our school enrolled in Middle College, but I don’t know them personally, so no other insight, sorry.
Ds classmate in college started CC classes at 10 and earned 3 AA degrees in HS. At 16, he started at a 4 year institution. He had all the awards and ECs you could imagine. He did not get into an IVY, MIT or Stanford. He graduated college at 19.
They were very good friends. He was painfully awkward but seemed to do well academically college. No girl friends or dating. His parents continued to have daily contact and managed his life throughout college.
In general, those community college classes become part of your academic history even if the classes are on your HS transcript. It’s your future university that decides which classes count or are transferable.
Even for courses listed on your HS transcript, it’s likely your future university will require a transcript from the CC. Each university has their own way of dealing with dual enrollment CC classes.
In addition, some masters programs and med-schools will include those grades and classes as part of your academic record and in GPA calculations even if your undergrad university did not.
Any college level class that is taken for credit and generates an academic transcript at that college or university becomes part of your academic record. For the rest of your life whenever you apply to a degree program at an accredited college or university in the US, or for a job that requires all of your transcripts, you will need to request a transcript from this CC. Each place that requires transcripts will decide for itself how to interpret them. Generally speaking, the older the record, the less important it becomes, but you need to bear in mind that this college record is forever.
If you are completing your associates degree along with your high school diploma, and these classes apply to your high school diploma (sometimes called middle college, sometimes called dual enrollment, sometimes with other names) it can be a good deal for the family. Especially if 1) the classes are free for the student, and 2) if the student has a good, affordable state U that will accept all of the credits for transfer in the student’s major. It also can be a pretty good deal if the student gets excellent grades, and can match that with a good ACT or SAT score and end up with an admission at another college or U that offers a bunch of merit money making the place affordable.
If your parents have financial issues, you need to work with them so that they feel comfortable discussing enough so as to clarify how those issues affect your college options. It could be tha they have run the numbers and think that the only way the money can work is if you get your AA or AS for free, and then only have to pay for two years at a state U. It could be that they are confused about the college money issue. Help them run the Net Price Calculator at a couple of the websites of universities near you, and see what the results look like. Remind them that they are welcome to make their own log on here. The folks in the financial aid and parents forums will have useful ideas for them.
While dual enrollment has benefits it also has issues. My eldest dual enrolled senior year starting at age 16, being on the young side of her grade. She was very mature for her age and hated high school so it made sense. However, we did it a four year university as it looked better than a CC. The issue is while academically it can be great, socially it is a difficult fit and at 14 I think even worse. You cannot drive nor really have a job so you are completely dependent on your parents at 14… As a parent I would not consider it. Many kids are held back so they are older to begin with and the age differential is too big. A 14 and 19 year old are two completely different things. Colleges don’t necessarily close for hazardous weather making travel dangerous. Being absent is far more difficult in college than high school. Also I believe issues do arise if you accumulate too many credits as you need to stay under the transfer threshhold at many schools to be considered a freshman down the road.
It is not about saving money via having credits transfer, but because I have free tuition for the CC classes and high school is much more expensive. The credits will transfer to any public state school, and that’s what my parents want me to do. However, my interests lie out of state, so I am trying to be as competitive as possible for a top uni OOS.
My parents have already told me they won’t contribute financially to my post-secondary education, so I’m still thinking about how to pay for college :I
Like some other posters have mentioned, is it possible that earning too many years’ worth of college credits will prevent me from applying to top schools?
I have taken a DE class online but the higher level courses I’m taking aren’t available online. Also it has been a lot harder than on campus learning. But thank you, I worry about that too :I
How about some not-for-credit coursework? Find something that interests you and find-- or pull together-- an online course. Or create your own.
For me, it would be weather. I love storms, weather of any sort. I would learn all I could about meteorology, whether or not I could get any sort of credit. I would make sure to document the work I did, so perhaps it could help someday with college admissions.
I’m confused. Why don’t you go to the public HS, which should be pretty much free (except sometimes they charge for ECs)? What is your parents’ income & asset levels? If they are low income, you might be able to get need based aid at a good school IF you don’t have too many CC credits & they aren’t post-graduation. But if they have money and just won’t spend it, then the schools you are talking about aren’t going to be choices. “Top schools” won’t give you merit money if that is what you need.
My main area of interest is comp engineering and I’ve been thinking of using the 3 years before uni to work on personal projects and ECs. Thank you a lot for your advice.