<p>Hey everyone, currently I am a high school sophomore, and am doing pretty well so far, I am taking an AP class and received a 3.8 weighted/3.6 uw gpa for the first semester. I have taken the California high school exit exam and am 100% positive that I passed. After this year I want to continue the rest of my high school education in a community college and receive a GED, rather than a diploma. I find myself constantly distracted by the social aspect of high school, and feel that the environment is just not right for me; I feel more mature than many of my peers and just want to be surrounded in a more comfortable environment; I don't need a second chance, I just feel like I can learn to my fullest potential in a different environment. The community college I want to go to seems to fit my needs. </p>
<p>I will continue to take rigorous courses, and will take the SAT's, but am worried that the reputation of the GED will have a profound impact in the college admissions process; I aspire to go to such schools such as cal, ucla, nyu, and etc. </p>
<p>I already partake in extra curricular activities and know the importance of them for colleges.</p>
<p>So to sum it up, I will be finishing "high school" in a community college, but will receive a "lower quality" diploma; </p>
<p>Generally, GED recipients are the people who need a 'second chance.' </p>
<p>So, what I want to know is, will colleges see that i'm smart, and disregard the "GED" label in my case? Will they treat me with equal bias to a student who is around my caliber but has received a diploma?</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I sound arrogant, but I go to school in an environment where, generally, people listen to hip-hop and rap, like Lil Wayne, people actually believe stereotypes are real, and are immature in general. </p>
<p>Trust me, I am not saying it out of arrogance, but the people who i go to school with everyday is a big factor in my decision.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I sound arrogant, but I go to school in an environment where, generally, people listen to hip-hop and rap, like Lil Wayne, people actually believe stereotypes are real, and are immature in general. </p>
<p>Trust me, I am not saying it out of arrogance, but the people who i go to school with everyday is a big factor in my decision.</p>
<p>In college, community or otherwise, people also generally listen to hip-hop and rap, like Lil Wayne, actually believe stereotypes are real, and are immature in general. You have two options: become a monk, or learn to deal with that.</p>
<p>If you are truly fed up with HS, taking the California state exam or the GED and going to community college now makes perfect sense. Don’t worry about the GED making you look like you weren’t a serious student. It isn’t something that kids your age normally opt for.</p>
<p>Your best bet for a successful transfer into a good college, is to spend two full years at the community college and to earn excellent grades while you are there. Meet with the transfer counselors early on in your program so that you can learn how to choose the best course sequence, and to find out about guaranteed transfer programs that your CC offers.</p>
<p>My high school experience, socially, has been a nightmare as well. I know that feeling of not wanting to go on, but really I would suggest sticking with it. I fear that a community college may be no different; if there are immature kids in high school, there will likely be immature kids at a community college. And I know of a few kids who have thought that they will do a couple years at a community college and then transfer, but unless the community college is really phenomenal, community colleges often don’t prepare students well enough to transfer to a 4 year college, especially since transfers have also become very competitive. I would say just stick it out. Good luck.</p>
<p>Basically, you want to go to college because you think you’ll make more friends there?</p>
<p>Don’t think people <em>suddenly</em> mature from high school to college. If you can’t ‘deal’ with the high school social scene, I doubt you’ll be able to ‘deal’ with any social scene. Honestly, you just have to find your niche and make with what you’re given- and that;s an essential skill to have.</p>
<p>The classes I have taken at my local CC had students of all ages and backgrounds in them. Definitely not high school! If you want a more interesting mix in your classes, take them early in the morning or in the evenings. The “college-age” students tend to opt for the daytime classes.</p>
<p>Another option for students who are college-ready would be to apply to a college/university that offers early entry. Most colleges/universities will admit students who will have finished 11th grade by the time they start classes, and there are some that will admit students as early as 9th grade age. For some ideas, check out:
[Hoagies</a>’ Gifted: Early College Entrance Programs](<a href=“http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/early_college.htm]Hoagies”>Early Entrance College Programs | Hoagies' Gifted)</p>
<p>Haha, you totally just proved that statement. Also, work on your writing a little if you want people to think you’re smart. Awkward overuse of “big words” actually has the opposite effect.</p>
<p>I may be wrong, but I don’t think you’ll be able to find the social experience you want at a community college. </p>
<p>You should look into Bard College at Simon’s Rock. It’s an early college for high school junior and senior aged students. You can go there for two years, then continue at Bard College in NY or transfer somewhere else. </p>
<p>My daughter attended HS for two years. I suggested toward the end of her freshman year that she take the GED and move on to college. High School was not a good fit for her. She attended one more year and then during the summer of 2009 she decided to go for her GED and then on to college. She got good grades, A’s and B’s in honors and regular classes. Her GPA was most likely a low A. Her SAT was 1920/2400.</p>
<p>She obtained her high school diploma via the GED program in Sept. 2009 and is currently attending a few classes in a CC until she moves on to University in the Fall of 2010. She is a bit older because she missed the deadline way back in kindergarten. She turned 17 at the end of October. She’s an only child and is also what I think is mature for her age.</p>
<p>She applied to Rutgers here in NJ. They denied her admission because of the GED which I think is very unfair. I would love to see admission statistics for Rutgers to see if they ever accept students with a GED without previous credits from a CC.</p>
<p>Only you can know if you’re ready to leave high school. If you have no problem with attending a CC for a couple of years then you should be fine. It seems universities will discriminate GED holders. Employers will not openly discriminate, but in the beginning of your chosen career, there will be discrimination.</p>
<p>Unfortunately there is the stigma of being a “drop-out” attached to the GED. Close-minded individuals and institutions will not look past the GED to see that you chose to begin your higher education at the age of 16.</p>
<p>Some colleges accept GEDs; some don’t. Even some pretty selective colleges accept GEDs.</p>
<p>But I also worry about whether a community college will be the cure-all that you might be expecting it to be. I don’t think your plan is necessarily a bad solution to your problem, but I don’t think it’s the only solution, either. </p>
<p>My sister, for example, applied to Oberlin when she was a junior in high school, and went to Oberlin without graduating from HS. After her freshman year of college, she took a GED so she’d have an easier time getting a summer job! I just checked Oberlin’s web site. They still accept applications from high-school juniors.</p>
<p>I was also going to suggest you look at Simon’s Rock also.</p>
<p>You’re still pretty young. I know you’re hating high-school life, but I think you need to take time to explore a lot of options here.</p>
<p>What are the required courses for graduation in your state? Where I live, the only subject where four years are required is English, and it’s possible to double-up on that class and finish the high school curriculum in three years. I know of at least one young lady who got her diploma last year after three years of high school.</p>
<p>This was also true in the state where I grew up. My brother more or less skipped his junior year, and was treated like a senior in his third year of high school, went through all the usual college application processes and so forth with the class ahead of him.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether there are any options that would get you out of high school at the end of THIS year, but it may be possible to make next year your “senior” year.</p>
<p>I really don’t think it’s a good idea to be two years younger than your class cohorts. It won’t matter as much in community college, where there are probably high school kids taking college courses, plus a wide age range in general, but it will make a difference when your transfer. It’s “only two years” difference, but at that age those two years represent a huge, huge gap.</p>
<p>So my suggestion would be if you get your GED, take two gap years and do something interesting during them. This will also give you something interesting for your college application.</p>
<p>Frankly, though, I doubt you are as mature as you think you are if you’re judging others as immature just because they listen to rap and hiphop.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that some colleges require a high school diploma rather than a GED. With that in mind, I recommend you accelerate through your graduation requirements and try and graduate a year early. Use that extra year to travel, get a job, or take CC classes. While I certainly don’t think high school is for everyone, it does open doors that wouldn’t otherwise be opened. If you want to go to college, finishing high school early avoids the drop out stigma and still allows you to move at your own academic pace while your peers party around you.</p>
<p>Do keep in mind that immaturity is found everywhere. Even you, just from what I can garner from your post, are hardly immune to it. Yes, the social scene can be hard in high school. But social interactions will likely dominate the rest of your adult life, unless you’re some kind of supergenius that will lock himself in a lab and discover some groundbreaking thereom. Most jobs will require social skills, including working under infuriately incompetent bosses. Your best bet is to learn to deal with these people now. </p>
<p>Also keep in mind that GEDs and community college, while both fine options, are generally for those who quit high school because it was too hard, not too easy (though community college is becoming, at least in my area, increasingly popular before transferring to the state flagship). When you look at profiles of the intellectually gifted, you’ll find more often that they accelerated through high school–perhaps with poor grades, perhaps with an effortless 4.0–than that they dropped out.</p>
<p>I imagine your school may surprise you. My high school hardly offers the level of intellectual rigor I’d like it to, but I’ve found a solid group of reliable friends as well as a smattering of musing intellectuals to have rambling philosophical conversations with. Look around–you may find a group, or at least a person, you love to talk to.</p>
<p>You may find that you can get a high school diploma rather than a GED. Some things to research: does your school district have charter schools or an on-line high school which allows students to work at their own pace? Would you consider home-schooling? Many home-schoolers take classes for their high school diploma at a community college.</p>