<p>Hi there, I'm looking for some advice on graduating from high school early. First a little background: I'm a 4.0+ student, I'm pretty involved in things with my school such as the speech team, theatre, choir and a group called youth development. I also work a part time job outside of school. I've always wanted to graduate early and I believe I'm in a pretty good position to do so. I have enough english credits at this point to graduate, (I am just about to enter my Junior year.) I also will have fulfilled my social studies and math credits at the end of this year. I'm just wondering what colleges will think of this and if it will diminish my chances of getting in where I want to go. Maturity level isn't going to be an issue for me as far as entering college early. I'm definitely, undeniably mature enough to live in a social environment with people who are older than me. I will definitely be able to live on my own, these things arent the issue. The issue is facilitating this potential early graduation and how to go about getting into college and finishing high school.</p>
<p>I don’t think colleges will look down on you for graduating early. The question really is: do you want to graduate early? If I was in your position, I would ponder whether or not I would want to leave my friends or if I want to enjoy high school for a bit longer. The choice is of course up to you, but keep things like that in mind.</p>
<p>Some colleges don’t recommend students graduating early, they want the student to enjoy high school, and get involved in high school programs and develop leadership skills and have leadership positions in EC’s. According to William and Mary, they look down upon it. Also sometimes, students who graduate early doesn’t look as competitive as to someone who got all four years of high school experience.</p>
<p>MRJ1618-- if it helps, there is a spot on the common app where it asks if you have graduated early (or late) and you have to upload supporting documentation explaining why. So that means it’s a lot more common than you might think. There are undoubtedly some schools that don’t like it and others where it won’t matter. You will be compared to other students who took four years of high school, so you need to make sure that you are competitive-- not just having enough credits to graduate.</p>
<p>My friend just graduated early. He got into a great school and everything but right as his last year was about to end he realized he regretted his decision. So if I was you I would not graduate early the last year of high school is probably the most special. You really have to be sure that you want to leave because I’m sure either way your going to get into a good school. You only go to high school once so why race through it.</p>
<p>I graduated a year early from high school and ranked 7 out of 220 graduating seniors (it was a small school). I had to take extra classes at a local community college while holding a full time job as well. I was doing the bare minimum to get As in my classes (mostly extra credit busy work, which was a bad idea now that I think about it). </p>
<p>When I started college, I did very poorly in some of my freshman classes. Then I started to slack off because it was just too difficult and I couldn’t keep up with deadlines. My high school took it easy on me and CC I attended was no different. Even though I graduated with a 4.0, I really think it should have been more like a 2.0. I stretched myself too thin just to regain that year I lost when I dropped out in the 7th grade. But it wasn’t worth it. Just recently, I have managed to raise my GPA to a 3.0 and it wasn’t easy. I also have a daughter and have had many life experiences that have helped me mature so I now am 100% determined to do well in college. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Take advantage of an extra math, science, english class, or use that extra year wisely preparing for college. Take some tours, get advice from University Counselors, make appointments to meet with professors, etc… But don’t just graduate early because you think you are ready. Enjoy your fourth high school year please!</p>