<p>hi, like many on this thread, I graduated a year early too because of academic boredom and also safety issues - long story short my town has per capita 3x more violent crimes than NYC. Although I love my school, i realize now that I wasn't as mature as I could have been. I only applied to schools my friends were, and didn't research colleges that would fit me better. I guess, in the end, I'm just really lucky to have found my perfect match. but, i could have just as easily ended up going to a school I would have been miserable with. I wish people wouldn't be in such a hurry to get out into the real world. I have friends that have just graduated from college and getting jobs, and they long for the days when they were in school again. The beginning of this semester, i contemplated graduating college early too, and do teach for america so that when i started medical school, I would be in the same peer group as my age, but really, thinking about it, when am i going to ever get to take classes i'm interested in again? i don't want to rush through my youth and come out razzled - robbed. I think we as a society are too focus on getting ahead, and we aren't appreciating the world around us. We expect our kids to be reading when they are 3, do worksheets instead of play, especially when many are not ready! Same goes for the transition from high school to college. as many as 41% of hs graduates AND professors/teachers do not feel graduates are ready for college, what makes you think a sophmore right now despite being bored in school is ready or more ready than that senior? I thought I was mature, and I have grown so much that I amaze myself, and I know I still have a lot more growing to do. So, take your time, enjoy. Don't do it because graduating at 17 means you're ahead, or to make your parents have something to brag about, do it only after careful reflection and thought, and you after all that, if you still want to do it, RESEARCH the colleges. </p>
<p>okay, that's long enough :-D</p>