<p>Hi! I'm a new member here and found this forum really helpful. I'm planning on graduating and going to college one year early but don't really have any idea about it. Can you guys tell me briefly about it? Like do colleges have special programs for early graduates like they have Early Decision? Do they think it good or bad that a candidate is graduating early? Will they keep it in mind when going through my profile? Will I still be able to apply to the same college next year (my senior year) after being rejected when I applied as a junior and decided to stay for senior year, without being "discriminated"? What's the greatest obstacle in this process? Thanks! I'd be grateful!</p>
<p>In general, colleges prefer that students not graduate early. The exception is if students have taken the most challenging courses the school offers and have run out of similar courses to take, including community college classes.</p>
<p>They will not give special consideration to an early graduating applicant. On the contrary, if the transcript is not stellar, they may consider that it would be in the applicant's interest to remain in high school and improve the transcript.</p>
<p>Consider that if your are graduating early, you will have only your record for freshman and sophomore year and the first half of junior year to submit to colleges; you will need to have done all your standardized testing by the beginning of junior year, and ideally by the end of sophomore year if you are planning to apply for Early Action/Early Decision.</p>
<p>I don't know whether being rejected as a junior applicant would have a bearing on your re-application as a senior.</p>
<p>This question has been asked and answered numerous times -- so you might try a search of the boards.</p>
<p>To quickly answer your questions -- </p>
<p>"What's the greatest obstacle in this process?" There are usually three significant problems with trying to apply to schools after only 3 years of high school. The first problem is getting good teacher recommendations and a good recommendation from the guidance counselor. The second problem is the required tests -- you have to plan ahead in order to make sure you have the tests you need (SAT, SAT II, ACT) and that you scored well on them. The third, and biggest problem, is completing the recommended classes. That is usually 4 years of English, 4 years of Math, 3-4 years of Science, 2-4 years of a foreign language, plus numerous social studies classes. The more selective the school -- the bigger these problems are.</p>
<p>As far as reapplying after being rejected -- you should be fine there. As long as you correct the deficits in your original application, they would not discriminate against you. Of course, that doesn't mean you would get in the second time -- many schools admit very few.</p>
<p>Schools do not pay much attention to whether you are graduating early -- and it is definitely not a plus. They will be looking at your application with the same scrutiny that they use for all other applications. your stats, activities and essays need to be at the same level as other applicants.</p>
<p>As far as special programs for early graduates -- that really depends on what you are looking for and how old you will really be when you attend college. Bard has a special program -- but keep in mind that, due to differing age cut-offs and grade-skipping before high school, there are a number of high school students who complete 4 years of high school and attend college at 16 and 17 every year. </p>
<p>I am not in favor of students graduating early -- life is not a race to the finish! If you have exhausted the curriculum at your high school, there are many other options. If you just hate attending high school, try homeschooling and taking cc classes, or try a year abroad. Increase you level of leadership in activities.</p>
<p>Of course, most of my advice applies to selective and very selective schools. A tried and true route for many that are ready for more is 2 years of community college and then transferring to another school. If you are interested in that route, you should be fine -- but you need to specifically research your local cc.</p>
<p>If you've planned this route well, taking English 4 and other necessary requirements, and have been taking most of your classes at local U or CC, then go for it. Be prepared for higher # of rejections.
Personal experience demonstrated that some of the tech schools, like MIT & Caltech, were the most lenient at accepting juniors. CMU actually stated that they will consider juniors who have maxed out their HS classes. At S's school, no special programs were offered for 16 & 17 year olds, as there were many this age.
I do think colleges are tougher with admissions of juniors. Have u considered other options? I've heard of kids finishing mid-year in senior year, and studying abroad for months.</p>
<p>I have noticed that some schools -- CalTech, for one -- anticipate receiving early applications, and expressly say that they do not condition admission on graduating from high school. So it may not matter whether you graduate, depending on where you're applying.</p>
<p>There are other schools that have formal programs for kids leaving high school early. They are set up to facilitate this,and also do not require graduation. The one I hear of most is Simon's Rock, which is affiliated with Bard. </p>
<p>Many years ago, my wife did this. She was a good student going to a fairly awful public high school in western Massachusetts, but not #1 in her class (certainly top-10, though). She wanted to graduate early and take a gap year (she was young as it was -- only 16 at the time). Notwithstanding that she met the requirements for graduation, the school said it would not let her graduate without having her college lined up (only about 25% of the kids went to four-year college, and they were unwilling to let her make their statistics look worse). Smith said it wouldn't consider her application, and Brown accepted her but wouldn't let her defer admission. Yale took her and let her defer, so that's where she wound up (poor baby). This, of course, was in the era when Yale got 5,000 applications, not 20,000. One of my cousins also graduated early and went to Swarthmore. I imagine this is rarer, now, though, thanks to the proliferation of distance-learning courses and arrangements where HS students can take classes at nearby colleges.</p>
<p>Graduating early and leaving school without a diploma.</p>
<p>It is possible to graduate early after having fulfilled all high school requirements. After a couple of students requested to graduate early, the school institute requirements such as requesting early gradution in spring of sophomore year, waiving the fourth year of PE and allowing students to double up on English. If the students meet all the requirements, they can graduate early with a diploma.</p>
<p>There are colleges that do not require high school diplomas. In general, they are private colleges and seek to attract specifically homeschoolers, many of whom are homeschooled because they are very advanced. Stanford has a special section on its website directed at homeschooled students. Harvard enrolled several siblings who were all homeschooled. </p>
<p>However, despite not requiring a high school diploma, the colleges do require that students hew as closely as possible to the high school curriculum (some may waive the foreign language requirement, as did MIT in one case I know of). They are not keen on enrolling students who are very young as college is more than about taking classes; it's about social skills and social life. While my S began taking college classes at 14, he would not have been a happy full-time college student at that age, and nor would his roommates.</p>
<p>I just graduated a year early from high school and will be attending the University of Connecticut on August 28th. I will turn 17 on August 29th. I found it to be no problem with the colleges as far as my high school status was concerned. They treated me like any other senior in high school because in retrospect I was a senior. I applied to 10 schools and got into 8 of them. That's not too bad. The only problem I had was with my high school accepting the fact that I was leaving early. You need to make sure you surround yourself with the right people because I found that once people see success coming your way the other side in them comes out. Make sure you focus on your goals and don't let anyone derail you from doing what you want to do. Trust me, the only feeling better than walking across stage on time is walking across stage a full year early. Take advantge of this opportunity and colleges will acknowledge your accomplishments. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys. The forum kept saying I have the wrong password and wouldn;t let me log on..and my mailbox kept putting mail from CC into the trash station until today I found them lying in there..so anyway, here I am again!</p>
<p>I talked to my school in the past week when I couldn't log on here. It turned out you don't have to graduate in order to go to college a year early, as long as you take English and gym for your first year in college. So that takes the burden of going to summer school and night school for all the credits off...but still, I would not have as much credits as a regular senior, nor will I satisfy the curriculum requirements at most competitive colleges. Aparrently I'm not trying to get out early because I have exhausted all my school could offer, and therefore i would be on the downside according to most of you..but what if I HAVE TO? What if I have another reason? what if there's a visa-expiration problem that demands me to go to college early in order to be legal, which is my case now?(I can't start taking college classes instead because I need a visa from a college and I don;t think they'd give me one if I'm not one of their pupils) Will they still put me at disadvantage for not being a precocious genius who ran out of the most challenging courses?</p>
<p>My situation is kinda complicated here. I'm new to the country. I moved from China, and last year/my sophmore year was my first year here.(will they consider this important while going through my profile?in a good/bad way?) and I need a new visa by next summer...hopefully from a college that accepted me. The problem is worse than what most of you expected. I will only have one year and a little more on my transcript. I haven't known my teachers and counselor forever. I don't have 4 years of english,, whatever is recommended curriculum for candidates. and my mediocre extracurriculum built in one year isn't going to help me much. The only competitive stuff I got is a pretty good GPA, pretty demanding courses compared to other students in my school, 2 SAT Subject 800s (math II and Chem) and an AP 5(Chem). I'm taking 3 APs this year but no score will be out by the time I apply. I'm just going to ask you guys, what kind of college do you think I will be able to get into? Do I have a chance at the Ivies, of which I dream but do not expect, at all?</p>
<p>And of course I'll think about the tech schools. I'm into science and math. And EarlyGraduate (hm, what a name!), you seem to be the only one who actually encouraged me to do this! I'll still bug you for your valuable experience. Thank you guys all agai</p>
<p>Can I just do the applications in my junior year, see the results, if none of my desired schools take me, just stay for senior year and apply (to some of the same schools) again as a regular senior? People are saying that wouldn't hurt, but would ridiculously selective schools like the Ivies be too picky to take a student who was once rejected by them as a junior?</p>
<p>And I don't really know much about deferring admission, as mentioned by JHS. Is it you tell the college you go there like a year later during which you'll be doing other stuff like working and traveling(studying) abroad? uhm, I'm thinking, if I didn't get into desired schools but was accepted by second choice school when applying as a Junior, can I defer the admission from the second choice school and stay for another year in high school, and then go to the second-choice school (using the deferred admission) if I still didn't get into the first-choices as a regular senior? I'm thinking no cuz I doubt colleges would let you loose for a year trying to dump them...but just making sure, ha.</p>
<p>a question about SAT score report:does a score report with an 800 and a 88% "national percentage spread"(well, something about percentage) mean 12% of all testtakers got 800's? Cuz if so an 800 would be really nothing..</p>
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a question about SAT score report:does a score report with an 800 and a 88% "national percentage spread"(well, something about percentage) mean 12% of all testtakers got 800's? Cuz if so an 800 would be really nothing.
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<p>No, it means that 12% of test-takers, including you, have reached the ceiling of that particular test.</p>
<p>Deferral: You should ask for a deferral only after being admitted. But would that help your visa situaton? If you have great GPA, great SAT scores and some APs, you can apply as a junior. The worst that can happen is that you will not be admitted. Do apply to a range of schools: reaches (all top schools are reaches), matches and safeties (by this is meant both academically and financially). And make sure to apply to schools you would be happy to attend, not just schools that are either prestigious or that you are sure to get into but might dislike.</p>