By “which ones”, what are you referring to? I am referring to all the differences between the NYS graduation requirements and those of Iowa.
You can look at things like Florida Virtual high school. You can sign up for courses, and pay for them. Most are done at self-pace (although there are teachers) and if you want to whip through each one in a month, go for it. A course like AP lit is still going to require you to read 5-8 books. If you can do that while taking calc, good for you.
To get a high school diploma from Florida Virtual or from you home high school, you have to complete all the requirement, so 3 more English courses, a health course, etc. You listed the requirements for your school, and you’d have to make sure all the courses will be accepted.
Some students also do dual enrollment and receive their HS diploma at the same time as their college one, or an AA degree.
I mean which NYS graduation requirements don’t you understand? If you want to graduate from high school in 5 months and enter college directly afterward one of the first skills you’re going to need is the ability to research effectively. Asking others to do your research for you isn’t the way to have a successful academic career.
If you pursue online high school make sure your target colleges accept online diplomas. Not all of them do.
However, the reality is virtual school is not the same rigor as an acedemically challenging hs in my experience. I would assume the virtual schools are pretty similiar from state to state. Top 10 schools are looking for rigor and ec’s. He also does not want to do dual enrollment.
What are the most prominent differences or the differences that you believe would affect my situation?
@twoinanddone, thank you so much for your advice! I have researched Florida Virtual School along with other virtual schools. What is your prediction on how long it would take one to complete a high school chemistry course for instance when spending 3 hours a day on the course?
The NYS graduation requirements aren’t difficult to find. If you aren’t willing to do a simple Google search and try to understand them, how will you convince Cornell that you’re ready for a highly selective university?
You won’t be able to earn a high school diploma in NYS by the end of summer. You might be able to whip through FL virtual school or some other online program, but a 5 month online diploma won’t get you into Cornell.
Virtual school has its uses but not for competitive college admission purposes. Its for when you need to get a specific credit out of the way because it is your weak subject and you want to take a second science class in you school day. Its to get rid of your health class which is not one of your core subjects or when there is a scheduling problem. Its not used to get into highly competitive colleges just as an algebra class at your local cc that will not transfer to your state flagship is not well regarded with your most competitive universities. They want to see ap lang, ap lit, ap bc calc, ap foreign language, ap physics c and the like. They want varsity athletes, band members, who were leaders in their schools and communities doing community service. They want students who want to better the world and have a background showing them doing it. They want students who have a passion and run with it. They want kids who have done the outstanding such as win competive awards, started charities, worked countless hours at some charity. One year of hs just does not allow for this.
The absolute quickest way that I could think to get a legitimate diploma is to move to Maine and enroll in high school- they have a provision in state law that allows students to earn a diploma after 30 college credits, which you say you already have. That will not get you into an elite school, but it will get you a diploma.
When you offered to ask a question, I expected, as any other would, that you would answer it. Noting that “If you aren’t willing to do a simple Google search and try to understand them, how will you convince Cornell that you’re ready for a highly selective university?” is not appropriate in this case. Why would one clearly implicitly offer to answer another’s question and then divert it to a fault on the asker? It simply makes no sense. We are not here to criticize in such a manner.
Thank you @milygymfam! I think I know how I can pull this off now!
You will wind up back in the same place taking the classes you need to be a competive applicant but now it will be full fare. And trust me being 15 years old in college no matter how smart you are does not make for a rewarding experience. College is about alot more than academics to be fully appreciated.
I said I would try to explain what you didn’t understand, Michael. I didn’t offer to do the basic research for you. My question to you is absolutely appropriate. If you insist that you’re ready for an elite college then you have to be prepared to handle the kind of tasks people require of students headed to those types of institutions.
We’re here to help students and families understand the realities of college admissions. The reality of highly selective college admissions is that a high school diploma earned in the time frame you want isn’t going to help your application.
If you’re serious about applying to med school why are you in such a hurry to finish high school? Those years could be used to add depth and breadth to your future applications. Why would you throw away those opportunities?
@milgymfam, @michael3423, The Maine education law allows for students to get a high school diploma from the last high school they attended after they complete 30 college credits. If I understand correctly, that means Michael’s current college credits don’t count because his last high school is in Iowa, not Maine. It sounds like his family would have to move to Maine, he’d have to attend high school, then take a year of college credits. So the best case scenario is that he’d have a high school diploma in 2 years.
I think it would take at a minimum of 2 months to complete any course, and that’s the semester’s worth of work not the entire year. There is a teacher involved, and they have to grade and comment back to you on the work. It is not less work than a traditional brick and mortar school, but you can control, somewhat, the pace. Most of the courses have ‘units’ to finish, and if you want to do one every day rather than every week, you can. My daughter took the required health course online, but even that couldn’t be completed in one day or one week since it required a log of physical activity for 4-6 weeks, and had to take a CPR course that had to be scheduled (it was either one all day class or 2 half day). She did finish it in about 6 weeks. You could sign up for and take a good number of courses at the same time, but you have to do the same amount of work in the AP Lit class that you’d have to do in a regular class, and if that’s read 10 books and write 10 papers, that’s what you’d have to do.
Why don’t you do home school? Your parent can develop a curriculum, you can complete it as fast as you want. Some states require very little, others require very detailed syllabi and course content to be filed with the state. They’d have to submit a transcript as part of the college application process.
You state you want a real high school diploma because it ‘means more’ than a GED. YES, because it means more you have to earn it. If you don’t want to do the work, you don’t get the diploma. Simple as that. A GED says you know the required material but you didn’t do the work. A high school diploma says you completed the 4 years of English, social studies, math, science, etc. College admissions officers know what each means.
You ask what could be different from one state to another. I did most of my high school work in Wisconsin. At the time (could be different now), I needed 4 history credits but only 3 English, 1 math, 1 science, 2 full years of PE; unbelievable that one needed more PE than math, but there you have it. I moved my senior year to Colorado where I needed only 19 credits total, but 4 English, 3 history, etc etc. I had 20 credits when I moved, but needed another English credit and I believe one more PE credit to get a Colorado high school diploma. I had a well balanced transcript so signed up for double English courses and that damned PE credit in the fall and graduated early. So Wisconsin and Colorado had different requirements. My kids transferred from California to Florida, and yes, different requirements. Most college prep kids will take 4 English, 4 science, 4 math, 4 social science so it is not a problem to transfer
.
If you are 20 years old, I don’t think the schools will hold the GED against you. Sometimes there are reasons for the GED rather than finishing high school, including illness, military transfers, homelessness, teenage pregnancy, but the schools will want to know the backstory, and ‘I think high school is a waste of time’ is not a good backstory. Colleges and med schools will not want to hear that you were bored, that there was busy work, that you were in a hurry to get to college. Tough. You don’t get to skip to the front of the line because you are bored.
Also, high school is a foundation for college. You NEED those math and science courses. You NEED to learn how to write a paper and the history of Europe and try out a few fine arts courses. There is a reason why colleges require those before they admit you. Colleges don’t want 16 year olds who haven’t experienced ANY fine arts or haven’t taken a foreign language.
@austinmshauri that isn’t how I read that law, but I guess I could always be wrong. I interpret it as a student would have to be enrolled in a Maine high school and simply request they grant the diploma based on previous credits. In any case, like everyone else, I think it’s a terrible idea regardless, and is not going to further OP’s stated goals in the least.
Iowa has an early college but it is a competive app process. Applicants need standardized test scores and need to be in top 95th percentile.
@michael3423 Good luck to you. As other experienced posters have pointed out to you, just because you are demanding a solution to your problem and asking the question about how to achieve this goal, does not mean that there is one. There are many people here willing to help you, yet you continue to ignore the advice, suggestions, or inquiries asked of you. Trust me, we understand that you think everything and anything IS possible, but it just isn’t. What you are looking to accomplish in the time frame you want to accomplish it with the results of getting into a top 10 university and med school cannot be achieved. But good luck. Hopefully, you can listen to the ideas others are suggesting and you can adjust either your time frame, your top 10 expectations, or your goals. Please keep us updated on your progress, think many of us look forward to where this thread may be a year from now.
Have you taken the ACT or SAT or PSAT? What were your results? I’m fairly certain you will need some standardized test results to get into a top college esp when your HS diploma may not be earned in the traditional manner?
Michael3423 - I know you said you have researched. Before allowing my then 10th grader to make the decision to switch to all dual enrollment for two years we talked to tons of college admissions officers including at elite schools. Sure not all schools will accept dual enrollment or even AP/IB for college credit it does not mean they don’t accept them as meeting high school graduation requirements when your high school says that is what you used to graduate high school. Your high school decides if they meet the requirements for a high school diploma not the college you get the credits from or the colleges you apply to. Even elite schools had no concerns about using dual enrollment classes for admissions purposes even if they don’t give college credit for them. Your rational for not doing dual enrollment just isn’t making sense to me.
First to clarify for me - are you currently in 9th or 10th grade? What foreign language class level are you currently at since you didn’t list that and top schools will still expect that even if your high school diploma doesn’t require it (college admissions can surpass high school graduation requirements). What are your test scores?
Just because you don’t like a person’s answer doesn’t mean it is not a valid answer. Please remember being kind to others will benefit you more than sounding arrogant.
You don’t always need a HS diploma for top colleges. USC takes about 25 students a year that have completed their Junior year.