<p>I'm currently a freshman in high school and because I'm so ahead in my academics (for example, one of the math classes I'm currently in is a junior/senior class) I've been given the opportunity to graduate early. I'm currently seriously considering it, but I want to make sure it won't affect me being accepted into the University of Akron's Honors College, because it has been brought to my understanding that many colleges don't like early graduates. I have two other options: take AP classes, or do post-secondary at Akron. The problem with AP's are that our school mess up the AP schedules really bad, so I would either end up with 3 or 4 classes instead of 7, or I would be so overloaded that I wouldn't have a lunch. The problem with doing post-secondary at Akron is that they aren't the honors classes and a requirement of the honors college is that most of the general ed courses have to be taken as honors classes. Therefore, I feel early graduation is best. I'm not affected by peer pressure at all, and I would NEVER do drugs, so that shouldn't be a problem. I was thinking of taking some CLEP tests to earn some credits. Also, I'm thinking of majoring in computer engineering (by the way, what do you guys think of that major?), and my uncle is a software engineer. When I asked him about it he said that the younger you are in computer engineering the better it is in the work force because more people will be willing to higher you. My last reason is that my dad has cancer and never made it through high school, so it's his dream to see me graduate high school. Because of his cancer, the absolute MAX (unless they find more medicine) that he will live is 2-3 years. I want him to see me graduate, so if I wait until 2016 there's a good chance he might not be with me to see me, and I want him there to see his dream. Also, at our school we're promoted from Junior to Senior so I won't miss out on any Senior year things, and some of my friends are considering doing it with me. Lastly, if there's anything that I'm required to be a Junior but it's during my Sophmore year, they will "promote" me to Junior just for that requirement so I won't miss out. I was hoping on some other people's thoughts on graduating a year early? I'm sorry this was so long, but I wanted to explain the situation as best as I could. Please give me your thoughts and help me make this decision!</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>(By the way, I'm new to this site so before I knew there was a place for high school questions, I posted it somewhere else and now I don't know how to delete it. Can someone help?)</p>
<p>Based on your situation I think you would be fine graduating early. You need to start taking standardized tests sooner then your peers, you should start the winter/spring of your sophomore year. You need to also make sure you will have all the credits needed to graduate early (you can be in an upper level class and still not have the necessary credits to graduate early). Finally you should contact the college you are interested in and make sure that they will be willing to accept you if you graduate early and confirm that your application will be viewed the same as all of the other incoming freshman applicants. On a side note make sure that you are involved in ECs.
I hope this helps, let me know if I did not answer any of your questions…</p>
<p>I do a few extra curriculars but my school doesn’t offer many I’m interested in. Do they have to be through school or can they be through other organizations or even independent study? And just wondering, does your worrying have something to do with being in high school for all four years?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your information! I was just wondering, do you think that if I explain the situation about my dad I since it’s my biggest motivation, in a college essay that colleges would understand the situation and wouldn’t frown upon my decision to graduate early?</p>
<p>Your ECs can absolutely be through organizations outside of school (that is actually strongly encouraged). Know that if it is independent you may experience issues depending on what you are doing. Try to start volunteering somewhere and perhaps get a leadership position or two. As for the explaining, I honestly don’t think many colleges will object to you graduating early, but I do think including the reason involving your father somewhere in your common app is probably a good idea.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks for all of the information. Would independent studying be considered an extra curricular, though? I’m actually quite successful with independent studying. For example, I self-taught myself piano and I just recently started taking lessons. My teacher said I taught myself more than she would’ve taught me in 3-4 years. I’m also self-teaching myself things about fixing computes, and I’ve gotten extremely far in that, which is why I want to be a computer engineer.</p>