<p>My daughter is graduating form high school in 3 years and she already apllied to Ivy Leagues. She was nr. 1 of her 2013 class; is nr. 1 of her 2012 class, a dedicated student. I have heard, however, that her early gaduation, rather than benefit her, diminishes her chances to be accepted to prestigious colleges since she has less grades to offer than the regular 4-year high school kids. I am very worried about this. Does anybody know anything about the validity of this statement? Please feel free to comment.</p>
<p>I guess I’m confused…if she has satisfied the graduation requirements for her high school…she would be “offering” the same number of classes/grades as all other students who have satisfied those requirements whether in three or four years.</p>
<p>Thank you for your comment. I am confused as well. I was told that she doesn’t have enough grades to show because even though she has all the credits, she did not take, say, photograph or drama. She focused on APs classes, honors and accelerated classes.</p>
<p>I don’t think having fewer grades matters. What may be more of a problem is that she may not have had the leadership opportunities in ECs that students who spend 4 years in high school tend to get in their senior year.</p>
<p>According to her high school, is she a junior this year, or a senior? </p>
<p>You will soon have acceptance results from her round of applications. IF she gets in nowhere, and she’s now a junior, couldn’t she simply stay in high school for yet another year and re-apply next Fall? If that plays out, next year when they ask her if she ever applied there before, of course answer “Yes” and explain she wanted to gain age maturity so is reapplying.</p>
<p>My S-2 wanted to graduate h.s. in 3 years, as he’d finished all the state requirements and didn’t want to stay on to do many elective classes. (That’s what I’m guessing you mean by the photography and drama classes). </p>
<p>His Guidance Counselor agreed he could graduate early, but insisted on making him a senior for that third year. They both told me about this and asked me to sign that plan. Until then, I had no idea what they were doing together with their meetings – but that’s my son. </p>
<p>He didn’t apply to any Ivies, but to 8 colleges with a very competitive major (film production) with acceptance rates by the major department akin to the Ivies. Once he got accepted in 3 places, he chose one and was out of here like a cannonball shot! </p>
<p>But if he hadn’t been happy with his results, his status as a h.s. Senior might have caused problems. I don’t think they would have let him remain at high school - a taxpayer issue. Why should the public have to re-educate a senior who didn’t fail the year? would be their reasoning. Fortunately, we didn’t have to face that.</p>
<p>By “Ivies” do you mean the 8 Ivy League schools specifically, or do you just mean “top schools”? Because there’s no reason for a smart student to focus exclusively on Ivies.</p>
<p>Also, when I wrote above “if she gets in nowhere” … I should have said, “nowhere that pleases her.” Just because a college/uni accepts her, she does not have to go there.</p>
<p>I wonder if the OP’s daughter’s HS has rigorous graduation requirements so that she even has enough of the suggested courses for the top schools. At our HS, you really need all four years to satisfy graduation requirements. Part of that is because we have one HS and it’s relatively small and you can’t do four years of the core subjects required for graduation in less then four years, plus the extra class requirements like tech classes, gym, drivers ed and electives. Our school is also picky about substituting classes from the nearby CC. I get that some kids are ready for college sooner then the norm, but for the majority of students the maturity is not there, even if they are ready grade-wise.</p>
<p>Editing - Does it really matter at this point? Since she’s applied already, you’re just waiting to see, right?</p>
<p>Mine homeschooled, and “graduated” in what would have been two years (if anyone was counting.) She also had 66 college credits from two- and four-year colleges prior to entry, all of which she threw away. By definition, she didn’t have any “high school leadership” positions, and graduated last in her class.</p>
<p>It just wasn’t an issue.</p>
<p>
Awww. Please tell your friends to stop talking and making you worried~! (just guessing)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is just what I was going to say.</p>
<p>Are there other students at your D’s school who graduated in 3 years? How did they fare when it came to college admissions?</p>
<p>A few kids graduated early at my high school last year. All had way above average grades/scores for their respective schools. As long as the grades/test scores are solid, which they clearly are, it shouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>Dear parents, thank you for all your kind posts. I’m overwhelmed. My daughter is a senior. Last year she packed in one year all the credits she needed to skip one year (she refused to take electives and went for APs, honors, and accelerated instead). She started the year as a sophomore (fall 2010); by January 2011 was a Junior (she also had secret meetings with her counselor). What people said is that at the moment she applied to college (Dec 2011) she did not have 3 years of grades (like 4-year HS kids) , but instead 2 years of grades to show to impress the Ivy League community (her dream school is Harvard). This worries me since, I agree, Harvard did see 2 years of grades, instead of 3.</p>
<p>I hope that you and your daughter understand that Harvard (and other similar schools) are long shots for everyone. Many, many top students apply and most aren’t admitted. I just want to make sure you understand that many #1s in their class aren’t admitted, many top SAT score holders aren’t admitted, etc. </p>
<p>I hope your daughter has other schools that she loves.</p>
<p>The number of years in high school may or may not matter, if she is admitted or not, you won’t really know.</p>
<p>We know of someone who entered Harvard as a freshman at 16 . It can be done !</p>
<p>OP- Besides the impressive number of APs and GPA, does she have outstanding ECs that will differentiate her from the other outstanding Harvard applicants? Regional or national level accomplishments in her EC or academic interests would be a good start.</p>
<p>Will her teachers be likely to indicate on the recommender forms (the check-off boxes with numbers 1 to 5) that she is very mature, cooperative, has a sense of humor, helpful, etc? The Ivies do look for students with character qualities that will enhance the campus experience for everyone; her fellow students as well as professors.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should consider any of this stuff. Unless your d. is a major serious athlete, a triple legacy, with parents donating a large building, son or daughter of a major ambassador, senator, or governor, she is not getting into Harvard. Doesn’t matter what her SATs are, or her GPAs, or her "high school leadership"nor her 3 v. 4 years. Dime a dozen. She’s not going to Harvard. The odds of the non-hooked, non-full-pay candidate are about 33 to 1. So just say she’s not getting in (lightning could strike, but you don’t plan for it), and move on.</p>
<p>Where does she REALLY want to go to school?</p>
<p>In general I don’t think graduating early helps anyone in the college admissions process because most would demonstrate more maturity, leadership, development of EC interests etc. but it may not hurt her either (Harvard aside, Mini is a harsh realist I can’t argue with) at schools where she is likely to be accepted.</p>
<p>Plan for a happy future somewhere other than Cambridge…if lighting strikes throw one heck of a party!</p>
<p>The advice you have already received is excellent. Not to be repetitive, but Harvard (one of the schools son called) said leaving school in 3 years was not an advantage; he would be compared to everyone else. Some colleges, like CMU, state on their brochure that they welcome juniors who have exhausted HS classes. Our state flagship had no problem with not meeting all requirements. Had other acceptances not come thru, he would have gone to state school and perhaps transferred.</p>
<p>I do hope you are not serious about applying just to Ivies. The tech schools were far more lenient. Son only applied to one LAC, and accepted with merit $$$.</p>