<p>Do you think that graduating high school a year early is a good idea?</p>
<p>First, my context:
-will be a sophmore this year
-small school in Wisconsin with few honors/AP
-ranked 1 in class of 200 with a 4.0 and a 31 ACT
-I will run out of interesting (worth taking) classes by the end of my junior year (the only one left would be AP Calculus AB)
-I could take college classes through a community college (senior year), but I could only take up to two classes (school budget cuts).</p>
<p>I want to go to University of WI Madison because I could get close to a full scholarship. With graduating in 3 years, I should be able to get in, because I will meet the requirements for application. My ECs are good (Girl Scouts, band, Sunday School teacher, etc.).</p>
<p>I'm worried that I would miss out on something by not having a senior year. My school does Junior Prom, so I'm good there. I would miss band drum majorette and maybe my band pin for my music letter. I would miss a year of sports and my friends.</p>
<p>So, is staying in high school that extra year (including horrible classes), worth missing out on experiences? Academically, I would be in mortal agony in the classes I would be stuck in. But I would miss out on 'some of the best times of my life'.</p>
<p>Are you young for your age or for your class? I just dropped my D off at a large university. She is a matured young lady, but she is still overwhelmed. Senior year is a very special year. If you were my D, I would say graduate with your friends. There is no reason to rush. College is more than just classes...You have to be socially mature to deal with it. I would say stay and try to enjoy your senior year.</p>
<p>My son felt he didn't miss a thing. He was thrilled to be at college instead of bored silly in high school. (He skipped his senior year and went to MIT. He didn't get an HS diploma either.) My nephew: same experience at Skidmore.</p>
<p>Two options come to mind. You could check on Youth Options and attend UW-Madison as a HS senior and pay only room/board/transportation/books like a local senior did in recent years. Then you could consider more elite private schools OOS and possibly get a scholarship (the UW credits may not transfer as you would be a HS student while getting them). You could also graduate early/skip senior year as another local student did. Don't worry about age- my son did early entry and skipped a grade, but we had many AP classes available so he did the full 4 years of HS. He ended up at Madison in the honors program and has done well. No problems with being overwhelmed, etc. The only problem is still being under 18 and needing a parental signature for the housing contract (involved sending it home, getting it returned by the deadline). PM me if you wish. You probably would enjoy Madison so much you wouldn't mind the tradeoffs.</p>
<p>Go for it.
Our DS skipped an early grade and still had many friends a class ahead of himself (2 years older). If it wasn't for IB, an easy attitude, and challenging teachers, he would gone bonkers from boredom. He did graduate. </p>
<p>For college, take you time. If you skip HS senior year, and finish college in 3 years, You'd be 2 years younger than your peer group. Do something wild.</p>
<p>I think this speaks a lot. Though I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with me, I don't really think there's much in high school that would make up for "mortal agony." If you think you're done, then there's not much point hanging around - go ahead and move on.</p>
<p>Besides, you can always stick around an extra year in college and make up :)</p>
<p>In Wisconsin I think it would be a better idea to do Youth Options. That gives your more college choices out-of-state, if you want to have a broader range of choices.</p>
<p>I went to a flagship public a year early. Academically I was ready but in most other ways I wasn't. The problem with immaturity is not knowing when one is off track. </p>
<p>Maturity is a judgement call of course. But I'd advise erring on the side of caution. I'm not saying "take boring classes at your HS." As previous posters have pointed out, it doesen't have to be a choice between being bored in HS or (possibly) being overwhelmed at State U.</p>
<p>Senior year is supposed to be the best one in high school. All of the perks, ruling the school, awards given only to seniors ( like most of our band stuff), and more freedom.</p>
<p>I am the normal age for my class. I was given the option to skip some intro classes during my freshman year, so I am about a year ahead in academics.</p>
<p>A generation ago, when it was rather easier to skip grades or graduate from high school early, both my sister and I went to college a year ahead of time.</p>
<p>Anyone who knew us might have predicted that I would have a hard time (because I was a naive academic nerd who had some emotional problems toward the end of high school) and she wouldn't (because she was socially successful as well as academically successful and appeared to be confident and capable).</p>
<p>As it happens, I was fine at college, while she was the one who had a hard time adjusting, something she now attributes to immaturity.</p>
<p>So it's really hard to predict whether going a year early is a good decision or a bad one.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to make your senior year of high school more interesting by getting a meaningful job, internship, or volunteer opportunity? I don't mean just a routine stand-behind-the-counter job. Would it be possible to do something related to a potential career field? For example, if you might be interested in veterinary medicine, could you work for a vet or volunteer at an animal shelter? Or if you are considering teaching as a career, could you tutor or help at an academic after-school program? Maybe you could get some meaningful experiences into your senior year, even if they don't happen to be classes.</p>
<p>I think most responders are saying that you shouldn't "waste" a year in boring HS classes, but that it's impossible for us to say whether it's a good idea for Y-O-U to skip senior year and head straight to State U. We simply don't know enough about you the person. This is a decision you and your trusted advisors need to make. Most students don't skip, but some do and have success. Just be aware that doing well at a competitve university is no slam dunk, no matter how smart you are. Best of luck with this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
OP writes: So most of you are saying go for it?
[/quote]
To me, this is a red flag that says you should not do it. It's one thing to try and solicit as many points of view so that you are considering all angles. But one does not run their live by a public vote. You collect the info and then make your own decision. This attempt at relying on what other people are telling you, more specifically the ones that happened to read this thread between yesterday at 6:41pm and today at 10:12am, shows to me that you may not really be ready for the jump to college.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be insulting to you, but kids in your age range are growing and changing year by year (sometimes it seems month by month). If you're surrounded in college by kids in your same level that are at least one and often two years older than you, you may be at a significant disadvantage. Especially at a large U like the one you're considering because you won't have the small classes and personal guidance you might get at a LAC or smaller U. If you're not making the right decisions for your future such as getting to know profs, internships, research experience, etc. because you're not ready for it then you'll miss a lot of what college is supposed to provide. And lets not ignore social life; how comfortable are you around girls significantly older than you? Keep in mind you'll be competing with them for dates, etc., and if you're thinking of a sorority you'll have to decide if you're ready for it frosh or soph year when many girls rush.</p>