<p>what makes you think that you'll like College more than HS? You should sit down and try to work it out with you about what exactly you hate about High School. I don't want to be harsh or something, but I just wanna see how you view College as a better place? (in terms of what?).
You look to be desperate, but, you should be patient and as everyone said "Hang in THERE" trust me, it's worth it! ;)</p>
<p>is there any possibility of graduating after your first semester? if you have enough credits, look into that as a possibility. talk to your principle or guidance counselor about it.
i would also seek treatment for depression, but no matter what, DO NOT DROP OUT. you will not regret staying as much as you will dropping out later in life. it'll get better. =] good luck</p>
<p>If I get a GED then go into penn state same way as if I get my high school diploma why would I regret dropping out? Please hear me I still want to be challenged academically. I still will be going to college. Does it matter if I have a GED or high school diploma once I'm in college? Would it be a factor if I were to apply to grad school?</p>
<p>Once you are admitted to college it will not matter. Grad schools will not care - your college record will matter. Just talk to somebody before you make any decisions- is your counselor at all understanding?</p>
<p>Why would you regret dropping out? You'll miss a year of math, science, English, foreign language, social science, and the like. Many college require four years in high school of one or more of those subjects. And if you don't like those subjects, what makes you think you'll like college? And if you don't take those classes, what makes you think you'll do well at a four-year college?</p>
<p>OP, I work with underprivileged students in the Bronx, NY (a historically needy area), and I can tell you that there is indeed a college for every student who wishes to attend. Your route to your "dream school" may be circuitous, depending on your actions, but if that is the case, so be it. High school can be debilitating. College can be liberating. I do not agree with the posters who question your suitability for college because you are having difficulty with high school. I would not presume to tell you what to do, but I would remind you that while you are debating your actions, please be kind to yourself. One of the values of counseling is that it can help you avoid self-laceration--I echo the others' suggestions that you seek professional feedback and input for this and many more reasons. Good luck on your journey. You will find, I suspect, that things work out.</p>
<p>bcarvings, you need to finish something in your life - something major - like high school.
HEY, LISTEN UP! I WAS THERE!
H.S. was a joke. Took the GED, piece of cake.
Started school but coulnt finish because i didnt know how to finish anything.
10 years after that i went back for the fourth or fifth time and received a double B.A. The courses? Easy. Finishing? It was nearly impossible.
No, it wont matter to the school once you are in - initially.
It will matter to you and the school after a semester or two after you give up and quit because you have never finished anything.
You quit this close to the end and you will never finish anything.
What, you think life is like a football team you can walk away from?
Dont count on it!</p>
<p>gardenmom - I love your post.</p>
<p>There are many people that hated high school and love college. </p>
<p>Many good points here - do your homework and make sure you have a plan. Good luck with whatever you decide.</p>
<p>I think many people here are not understanding me. I like the academics of school. It's the social part that I don't like. I don't like big crowds. Kids are goofy, and unfortunatley there are a lot of immature kids in high schools. Mabye I just matured too fast, I just have a no-nonsense attitute and a short temper for kids acting like they do in that show "jackass". </p>
<p>My problem is not with the work or finishing anything. I am a very hard worker, but theres a difference between quiting because its too hard, and quiting because you're depressed about something else. </p>
<p>I will tell my parents my plans this weekend. Advice on how to tell them?</p>
<p>Thank you all very much.</p>
<p>haha, it'd be hard to find good advices particularly at "College" Confidential since not a lot of people here told their parents of a plan like urs. So, it really seems like you kinda want to avoid kids, but, what's up with that? College will be better, but, I think it'll be HARD to find the RIGHT college for YOU! You want seclusion and academics. But see, when you go to job field, you WILL meet Goofy Kidlike people, you HAVE to know how to deal with people of all kind...life is not perfect, you'll hardly find a perfect place, you just have to get over small obstacles and go forward. Please, learn how to live with it. Dropping out of High School is not the right way to do it. Either Transfer, or Go to CC or do something and keep urself busy. Learn how to deal with immature people, coz, HS is not the only place you'll see them.</p>
<p>Did u talk with ur Guidance Counselor or just someone you think can be helpful as others in this thread already said?</p>
<p>I think you should write your points down in a letter so they are very well organized and show that you have thought out the solutions to your problems; then, give your parents a copy to read while you sit there and wait or them to finish reading. Reading through your letter will help them to "hear" your entire point of view/plan before they respond.</p>
<p>Keep your head up: many kids who hate high school for one reason or another love college and end up doing better there. As a matter of fact- both of my kids do better in college than high school for a variety of reasons. They liked the social art and hated the HS format. One is in high school and cannot wait to get to college. The other is in college and feels very sorry for his little brother. Do not listen to those who call you a quitter. High schools today do not foster indepent thought and many kids who are independent do not enjoy their time there.</p>
<p>It took me many years to get my degree. If you want yours, you will get it.
And no, no one cares if you do nothave a hs diploma once you have a college degree. USC offers this option to top hs students every year so it can't be all bad. You might pull up that information and show your parents that it is a valid option for colleges. Good Luck.</p>
<p>I flipped through my edition of "the 3XX best colleges" ( a few years old) and the majority of colleges listed accept GED. It is not the black mark that some will tell you. It sounds like your college aspirations are not over the top either - I know a lot of students with stats like yours that go to PSU satellite campuses.
Keep doing your research and stay calm when you present your case.</p>
<p>To answer some questoins in the follow up posts by the OP, the online school I was recommending you consider at least in my area is an independent study school. It is very much designed for students like you who want to learn but want to leave the social bs of high school. You do work online, you meet with a teacher once a week to go over your work. You receive grades just like a regular school. I believe the students handle PE by different routes: some dance at a private studio, or do some other individual "sport" or take a community college sports class.<br>
It is just one option and certainly not the only option. I would check with the individual college you are interested in attending and find out exactly how THEY view the GED. That is what will matter, not how the posters here view it.
As for talking to your parents, I second the idea of putting down your thoughts on paper ahead of time. Organize your thoughts, then take some deep breaths and plunge ahead.
Good luck.</p>
<p>It sounds like nonmatriculated enrollment in a local college as a dual-enrollment student would be just the thing for you (as it might have been for me, back in my day). Some of my smartest high school classmates dropped out of high school for reasons similar to yours. Today a lot of high school students who like studying but don't like social immaturity go to community colleges or local private colleges as college-for-high-school students, and then apply to far-away colleges after finishing up "high school" that way. This is something you should seriously consider.</p>
<p>I think I must be in the Twilight Zone. Really.</p>
<p>Yes. Many schools accept GEDs. However, most of those schools are accepting non-traditional (older) students who dropped out, then went back and obtained a GED. I have been on admissions committees. On both of them, we would look askance at a GED obtained by a kid who dropped out of high school his/her senior year. We would have wanted to see that kid attend community college, get good grades, then transfer. If a kid had to drop out of high school to support a family and then got a GED, we would certainly have looked on that favorably. But a kid who gives up the final eight months or so of high school because he/she just didn't like it is going to raise red flags everywhere.</p>
<p>But, look, that's just college admissions. There will certainly be a college, somewhere, that will take the OP. Heck, there are colleges that will take literally everyone who applies.</p>
<p>What really blows my mind here is the number of people encouraging someone to DROP OUT OF SCHOOL!!! Seriously. When has dropping out of school, when it's not absolutely necessary, ever been a great idea? When has foregoing an extra year of academic subjects ever been a great preparation for college? When has it ever been a good idea to say, "Oh, I don't like the people so I'm just going to quit?"</p>
<p>OP, I'm a psychologist. If you are depressed, it is extremely unlikely that high school is the source. It may be an aggravating factor but, if it is, it is very likely that the roots of your depression, and the behaviors of depression, are isolating you from your peers. Simple annoyance with "immature" peers rings completely false to me as a triggering factor.</p>
<p>Look, if you can get into a community college, tranfer your credits to high school, then get a high school diploma, I see little harm in that. But dropping out to get a GED (which, by the way, is NOT an equivalent to college prep work) when you have only a few months of high school left triggers alarm bells.</p>
<p>You really, really need some professional couseling. There is nothing shameful in this. I fought depression for a long time. It is not your fault, and depression is infinitely treatable. Left untreated, however, your life will not only be dark and gray for many years (if not for you whole life), but you will make bad decisions as part of the disease.</p>
<p>Be well. Please. For your own sake.</p>
<p>So sorry you're having such a rough time. Try to hang in there -- it will be worth it in the long run. Switch schools, join a new club, pick up a hobby, but mainly reach out and talk to someone. Re. the GED, you can go to a state U with a GED. I know someone who went into the Navy at 16, got his GED, and took college courses on the naval base. Eventually, this person finished med school, completed two post-doc fellowships and is a board certified surgeon. Like you, he was depressed -- a difficult family situation. Having said this, a GED is the hardest road to travel -- not recommended. GED study cannot cover as much material in as much depth as a high school curriculum - you'll be playing catch up for a long time. It's difficult to find perspective when you are depressed or sad, but listen to others when they say hang in there. 12-18 months is really a very short period of time in what could be an enjoyable, interesting 76+ years.</p>
<p>For the record - I am not advocating dropping out. Just want to pint out that the GED can be an option for some. It did work for me, for example.
Since the OP has persevered this far, I am not sure it would be worth it to even try that route. By the time you sign up for the GED , take the tests, get the results, apply to colleges, wait for admission decisions ....well senior year will be over. You may as well go the conventional route and not have to fight against the current.
Just consider all of the advice you've been given. It is important to know that you are not alone in your distaste for the institution of "High School" and that things can and probably will get better once you get to college.</p>
<p>Educational-wise I would benefit. Most of my classes are a joke. It's my senior year, the work is extremely easy. The thing is though I want a challenge, I want some school work. I know I could move into honors classes but its still high school. The work would not be college level. </p>
<p>If I would learn more at home through independant study (reading mostly) and get a GED, why should I stay in school? Red flags will go off in an admissions office because I'm sick of immaturity? Again most kids that drop out have a problem with waking up every morning and doing the work. I have no problem with that. I just want to be happy and after trying to like school for so long I have become depressed and given-up. I could go through a painful 8 months, but for what? I am going to end up with the same thing (penn state degree) just a different way of getting there....</p>
<p>seems like you are really determined with your decision. Then why do you want us to give you advices? You know it very well that hardly anyone would recommend you to drop out of HS. The way you are saying that HS Courses are joke would make one wonder whether you have a guaranteed EA/ED acceptance at Harvard or Cambridge! Dude, you've so many ways to overload yourself w/ courses and learning how to accept the adversity and work through it.....but, oh well, I don't think any of these are necessary.
If you think you are taking the right decision, then just go ahead and take it. Atleast the mental satisfaction will give you enough confidence and happiness.</p>
<p>bcarvings:</p>
<p>Here's why red flags will go up. You have average SAT scores, at best (actually, a bit below average). Your grades aren't all that good. Yet, high school is too easy for you? And even though it's too easy for you, you're not taking honors classes? Why not? Your railing against "immaturity" can sound like so many sour grapes, especially since your grades and test scores aren't very good.</p>
<p>Once again, it is highly unlikely that you are depressed because of school.</p>
<p>Please, see someone about this issue. Dropping out is a horrible idea. A GED is the equivalent of a lousy high school education, not a good one.</p>