Advice for a graduating early student interested in creative writing?

I’m a mentor with a kid at our high school who is graduating a year early and is interested in jumping into college fall 2024. They are interested in creative writing and philosophy. They want to stay West-ish (OR, WA, CA, CO). I just met them yesterday and am scrambling to figure out the best way to help. Anything I should consider because of them skipping senior year? They don’t know about how much parents are willing to pay. Would it be possible for them to do a year of “internship” in the film/tv/theater world as a writer to help them be a more attractive candidate the next year. GPA is 3.5, only 1-2 AP classes.

Would they consider community college to four-year transfer? What state are they a resident of - i.e. what would their public university options be? And of course you will need to hear about budget - and whether they might qualify for need-based aid - before making any suggestions.

Yes, they are considering CC and then transferring. I believe they and I both worry that they would just kinda get lost if they don’t jump into a 4 year program. To me, staying for senior year, pumping up rigor and grades to be a more competitive graduate would be the best. They are a great, smart, wonderful kid, but anyone at 16/17 needs another year to mature and be in a safe place to make mistakes. But I also am not privy to how safe home or school is for them, so getting “out” may be the best choice. They are unclear on budget unfortunately.

What state?

Most internships want college students, not high school students. My D22 looked when she was in high school, but was turned down because she wasn’t a college student.

I’m not sure about the state where they are, but in my state NC you can do dual enrollment and take pretty much all your classes at Community College. I would recommend this instead of early graduation if that’s possible. Get out of the high school, but don’t graduate yet. If money is an issue keeping that college freshman status by doing dual enrollment instead of coming in as a transfer (a high school grad who then took Community College classes after graduation) may offer more scholarship money too. You still get the college class credit, but because you did it while still enrolled in high school it doesn’t make you a transfer student, but the student might get enough CC credits to graduate from college a year early. Worth emailing a Community College advisor and a prospective college admissions office about.

I love the idea of DE/ staying enrolled in high school! They might actually take to that! We are in Oregon.

If she applies to many of the California schools, she could be rejected at a lot of places because it doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of rigor in her schedule.

The California public schools won’t be cheap. $72 to $75K per year. They are extremely competitive in GPA and rigor.

If she doesn’t stay and increase her rigor at her high school, her chances will be slim for California schools.

The private schools will be even more in costs. She needs a budget.

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