<p>I'm the mom of a daughter who did graduate high school early (after junior year) and went on for a BFA degree in MT, and is now a freshman at NYU/Tisch/CAP21, from where I just returned for Parent Weekend. I can try to help. By the way, this is not the same situation as the other poster, Mikksmom, was referring to...leaving school early after junior year without a diploma...which is often referred to as early entrance or early enrollment, different thing. My D earned a high school diploma and graduated after three years of high school which I believe is what you are discussing....early graduation. </p>
<p>These cases are VERY individual and I don't know your daughter of course. It is not for everyone. As far as how it affects the actual ADMISSIONS/AUDITION process.....I called every school on my D's list when she came to us mid year in tenth grade begging and making her case to us to graduate early and I asked each school, NOT ABOUT HER....simply the POLICY about admitting students who graduated high school early. I did not want to proceed with her plans if this was going to negatively affect her admissions chances or if schools were not keen on such applicants. Every school told me that they do accept early graduates who fulfilled the requirements for admission. You really should inquire at each school. You need not give your child's name. </p>
<p>As I am sure you are well aware, the reasons for graduating early should be compelling and in more than one area of development. It was never our intentions for our child to graduate early and in fact, it all came from her and was not planned (until she put the plan in motion with our approval in tenth grade). Not only do YOU have to weigh the issues for your daughter "in-house", but the schools will also take extra care in evaluating such candidates to determine if THEY believe they are ready for college. I want to add here that my daughter added to every application, a personal statement (this was not her regular app essays) articulating her reasons for choosing to graduate early. Also her guidance counselor spoke to this issue in his report. </p>
<p>You need to evaluate her readiness in several areas of development.....academically/intellectually, socially, personally, and artistically. Being academically ready to undertake college is not all that it takes. There are other ways to satisfy being advanced that way. There are ways to do dual enrollment at some high schools with college courses, and many other ways to expand academic choices for advanced students besides graduating early. I have another advanced student in my family who did not graduate early but did have to have some academic accomodations made senior year due to being so accelerated in school.</p>
<p>I guess one way to explain this is through personal experience which may not apply to your daughter but it points out the kinds of issues that come up with such kids. </p>
<p>For my daughter, it has always been a challenge to meet her academic needs in school. First she was admitted early to Kindergarten (thus not only did she graduate early, she entered early and started college this year at 16 1/2). Throughout her schooling many accomodations had to be made for her being "advanced" academically. She was placed in multi-age classes through elem school, always with grades above hers in the class. She did numerous indep. studies in elem school as well as was given above grade level accelerated work on an individual basis. In middle school, she took several high school classes....in English, Math, and French (never with the intent to graduate early but simply to meet her learning needs). She earned several high school credits in middle school. She also took a college level writing course through Johns Hopkins in 8th grade. She completed several indep. studies in math and history as well while still in middle school, for credit. She has always been someone to pursue academic challenge. Because of this, she came close to exhausting most of the most demanding courses at our high school by the end of junior year and did not feel compelled to stay a fourth year without enough high level courses remaining to take, plus had completed the graduation requirements by the end of junior year. </p>
<p>Socially, she was always put in classes with much older kids, as well as was placed with older kids in her all of her extracurricular pursuits. At her summer theater program (sleepaway for 8 years), she was always grouped and was closest with older peers....roomed with them every year as well. She felt that was the right grouping for her socially. As they moved onto college, she wanted to move on with this grouping. In this much older grouping (not even just kids one grade above hers but more), she was socially adept and people did not consider her as "younger". She actually took on leadership positions in older peer groupings. This is where she felt she belonged. Now that she is at college, she says that people who are just meeting her continue to comment when learning her real age, that they can't believe her real age because she does not come across to them as younger, never has. </p>
<p>Emotionally, she felt ready for the independence required of college life. She had been away from home and was very anxious to move onto this stage of her life. </p>
<p>She had theatrical/artistic reasons as well. She felt she had pretty much exhausted the training and production experience available to her at this level locally. She had reached the goals she had set for herself theatrically in a high school setting. She had been the leads in the high school productions since 7th grade, had taken the most advanced dance classes and had gotten into the selective repertory troupe at her dance studio for years, won the highest state awards for voice, had created and directed a few musicals, and was simply ready for the next step in her training and did not feel she would benefit from another year doing similar things at this level with no where really higher to move. She wanted further challenge. She wanted more advanced training and opportunities. </p>
<p>We all know our own kids. If someone else was telling me this story about their kid, yeah, I would pause and wonder....graduating at 16 1/2??? Yikes. But this is the kid I've got. Knowing her as I do, I could not argue with any of her well articulated reasons, intense drive/passion, very strong will.....and frankly, anyone who knows her personally is not surprised whatsoever when they hear she graduated early. So, you know your kid and must evaluate all these areas and think about how compelling the reasons are in several developmental areas. Think about your child surviving socially in college. I already knew my child mixed socially in programs away from home for years with a much older grouping, let alone at home. She was not concerned about any of this. She wanted to do this. In fact, she is doing it now and has not had any problems and is loving the whole deal in every respect....academically, socially, personally, artistically.</p>
<p>The only thing I can say is that I was hesitant as a PARENT because I was not anxious for my kid to leave home one year earlier! And I always couldn't imagine her on her own so soon and the responsibility that comes with not only college but in her case, even being in a city (having come from a very rural area). But that is more my problem as it has not been her problem, lol. I've gotten used to it. She is thriving. This is who she is. Love the kid you've got. Just like kids with problems like learning disabilities, you gotta try to find ways to make it work for kids of this sort too. She has never been a "normal" child who followed a normal path, particularly with regard to schooling. This is just one more part of that journey. So far, it seems to be the right one for HER. Besides all that, if you knew her, you'd know that there was no way I could keep her "down"....it would not have been a good year at all if I had not given in. She knows herself. </p>
<p>As you can see, colleges WERE willing to take her and she had many acceptances to BFA programs with scholarship. Even at the one she ended up at, she was selected as a Scholar, one of about 15-18 kids in all of the Tisch freshman class, so they overlooked her being young. Or maybe they evaluated her despite her being young and upon careful examination considering being an early graduate, were still willing to take her and also put her into a leadership group. </p>
<p>I recall when she got her only full out rejection which was fairly early in the audition season, she started to wonder if she had reduced her chances by having one less year under her belt of training than the other applicants but then stopped the doubt from that one outcome and stayed the course and she happily received many acceptances after that rejection. Perhaps she'd have done even better by waiting one more year, we'll never know. But she did good enough to have a choice of programs that were willing to take her and is very happy going to one of her first choice schools after all. </p>
<p>I hope that personal story is helpful to you some as you begin to think about the possibilities in your own family. You are starting much earlier in thinking about this path than we did. It was my child's idea and it came in tenth grade, while we were immersed in her sister's senior year college admissions process and one at a time was really all I wanted to deal with but you do what you gotta do. You gotta take the kid you have and run with it. </p>
<p>Susan</p>