<p>My son got a brochure for a program at USC which would allow him (if accepted of course) to enroll at USC and skip his senior year of high school. Are there other colleges universities encouraging this option of early matriculation?</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on the USC Honors Residency program in particular?</p>
<p>My son went to MIT after his junior year of high school. CalTech also accepts students under "early entrance." If you go to a college's web site and search for early entrance (not early admission) you'll find out their policies.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd also has a similar program. </p>
<p>We were faced with this choice, because our son tapped out all the top courses at the high school at the end of his junior year. After giving it lots of thought, we decided that living at home with a loving family is a gift that you can only give once. Fortunately, there was a college close enough to home that he was able to attend full time, while staying at home. (Must be done through your high school counselor.) I wonder if this would be an option for your family?</p>
<p>Simon's Rock at Bard College (upstate NY) has a similar program.</p>
<p>Here in Minnesota it is not unheard of. My cousin in law's son goes to the U of MN and my daughter's 2 classmates go to different private colleges. I know the state pays for a chunk of it. It is also common for kids to go to community college for a part of the day. Check into what your state can provide.</p>
<p>Washington and Jefferson in PA did this years ago...not saying how old I am ;). I bet there are quite a few schools that do this.</p>
<p>Yes...Post Secondary Education Option..PSEO...credits are great! I wanted D2 to do this instead of AP classes but she is quiet and shy and didn't want to leave the security of HS...yet. Great that the State pays, too!</p>
<p>Not all states will pay for attending post-secondary schools. Our state will only pay for community college. DS enrolled in the local state college, and we considered it money well-spent, and he did receive a scholarship.</p>
<p>Some top schools take kids that do not have HS diploma. I don't think they <em>encourage</em> it, but they allow it. Usually those are kids that are extremely advanced in academics, but can't graduate from HS because of various silly requirements they did not/could not fulfill.</p>
<p>Mary Baldwin is another college with a formal early acceptance program - however it won't do your son any good as it's for young women.</p>
<p>There have been several threads on this. The UC schools often accept students as junior's in high school, you just need to take a high school equivalency exam before you enroll...</p>
<p>University of Chicago is supposed to be open to this kind of thing as well.</p>
<p>This is very common, actually, and a good solution for many students (I did it 20 years ago).</p>
<p>One of the things I was curious about was the high school graduation issue. </p>
<p>ON the USC site it says many of the students return at the end of the year to their home high school and are allowed an "honorary" high school graduation. However some high schools won't permit this and the student then gets a high school equivalency diploma. I figure it doesn't matter so much unless you end up wanting to transfer to another college/university at the end of the Honors Residency program... and then I am wondering if not having a regular diploma is a disadvantage. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I don't know of any situation where you need a high school diploma. I don't have one (I only have the California High School Proficiency Exam), and in the past 20 years, I haven't ever needed it. Once you graduate from college, the issue is moot. I guess if you were going to drop out of college, there might be some advantage to having a real high school diploma rather than having an equivalency, but even there I doubt if it matters much in most cases.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is if you have a high performing child who will be competitive for merit money, they may want to apply with their class. Our family briefly considered the USC program because my son was bored to tears with high school. We decided to wait and he ended up applying to USC on schedule and getting a full tuition scholarship as an entering frosh for fall 2008. I do not know if the RHP kids are eligible for the those types of scholarships, but it might be worth asking prospective colleges about this.</p>
<p>^^that is a VERY good point, especially re: USC.</p>
<p>My son never bothered with a high school diploma or a GED either. He figures a college degree trumps either. And he really enjoys referring to himself as a "high school dropout."</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon will also admit students who would be going into their senior year of high school, particularly those who participate in Pre-College and do well.</p>
<p>The University of Washington offers direct enrollment into its Honors program for qualifying end of 7th, 8th, and 10th grade students. The first two spend an academic year on campus in a transition program where they do not take a credit college course until spring quarter. Most of the 7th & 8th graders live at home. Robinson</a> Center | Home</p>
<p>I know of a student who was accepted into a program at the University of Iowa. It's for 20 (I believe) selected high school students. They live in dorms & are like the college students in every other way. Their year there counts both toward their high school graduation and freshman year. Designed for those little birdies who can't wait to leave the nest, I guess!</p>
<p>USC will give scholarships to its early entrance students. All of the RHP students that I knew freshman year at least had half tuition.</p>