<p>What do you want to do with your life? What gives you purpose? What are you passionate about? It seems to me that perhaps what you lack is <em>purpose,</em> <em>focus.</em> See, there will be jerky, immature people everywhere (as you have found out), but what can help us get through it is our own goals-- and I suggest you establish them. I'll suggest a few books: Wishcraft (which is at least 20 years old) and Do What You Are. </p>
<p>I think the answer to dropping out has a lot to do with your goals. The best answer for you would probably be to try to take community colleges to finish high school. If, however, you cannot do that, you could homeschool or charter school if your parents will help you with that. Where <em>are</em> your parents in all of this, by the way? What is their advice? </p>
<p>Anyway, go ahead and call the college you want to attend. I doubt the problem will be the GED. The truth is that your preparation for college is mediocre right now. Judging my your grades, your standardized test scores and your courses, you need that extra year of high school to acquire some skills to prepare you for college. See, most courses in 4-year colleges require a lot of independent research and discipline by the student. I'm not sure you're there right now. So while you may be able to get into a 4-year college, I'm not sure you'll get through it. Which brings us back to-- what do you want to DO with your life? If your goal is to study a liberal arts field, you need more high school work. If your goal is to prepare for a specific job, perhaps you can arrange a way to get internship credit or some sort of vocational training. By the way, where I live, there is a special program with the community college for kids who dropout. The kids go through as a cohort in their last two years. You're sort of past that but you may want to talk to your guidance counselor. He or she may know of some alternative ways to get you through the end-- online courses, internship credit, early release days, a new interdisciplinary class, dual enrollment, a vocational program. </p>
<p>Remember, school isn't about preparing you for school. School is about preparing you for LIFE. You will always feel aimless if you are aimless. Oh, one more suggestion to finding some direction: volunteer. Go find your nearest Special Olympics chapter or go down to your local fire department and volunteer. It'll help you see what's really important.</p>
<p>GED is a great option. I kind of wish I did it...school wise, but socially senior year is something everyone has to experience. My advice would be to transfer. I went to a catholic school my freshman year and became depressed...clinically depressed. There is a lot of good advice in this thread and also a lot of poor advice. 1) Are you willing to go to school for one more year?--you can transfer schools and make a new start. 2) I want to stress this to anyone and everyone---COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS NOT A BAD OPTION. In high school there is such a stigma against those who take the community college path, but in reality it makes no difference whatsoever in your future (only positive). If you truly want to go to a good school, go to community college, try your hardest and transfer to the school of your choice. In high school, I did not have a shot at most Cal-States because I had a 3.0 GPA and very low SAT scores. I'm going to community college now and I can honestly say it has been the best decision of my life. I have learned how to excel academically and the extra-curricular opportunities are amazing. You get your pre-reqs completed with amazing teachers in a small learning environment while most of your peers are taking the same courses from TA's in 300+ lecture halls. I can transfer to Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD or any other UC with no problem now because I tried hard, got involved, and made the best of my community college experience. If I had only known this in high school, I would not have felt so badly about "ending up" at a community college. Please don't rule it out because it is a fantastic opportunity to get a great education, save tons of money, and transfer to the school of your choice instead of settling on a school of lower caliber. And that Vic guy up there.....70k a year.....In California that is starving. And just by reading his post I could tell he was a high school dropout by the grammatical errors and poor choice of words. I would rather be a debt-filled, intelligent student with a future ahead of me than an ignorant woman who settled for blackjack and an internet business as my source of income......can you say anti-social. Plus, the college experience is absolutely fantastic-NOTHING like high school. I hope you choose whichever path makes you happiest and most successful. I'm glad you don't want to give up on school completely. And as someone who had a similar high school experience (switched 3 schools in high school), I would support your decision to get a GED early. You will be ahead of the game when your peers are all realizing (uh oh I'm not going to get in to my top choice school).</p>
<p>OP: High school and senior year are not things everyone needs to experience. It is, down the road, not important. Whichever experience you choose, you will learn from it, and it will be the one you needed as long as you don't lose sight of your goals.</p>
<p>I pulled out of (note - not dropped out of) school in the ninth grade, got my GED when I turned sixteen, and have homeschooled myself since then. It's one of the best things I ever did, though my reasons probably had much more to do with academics than your own. However, don't listen to the people who say that it's okay to just endure pointless, stupid crap because everyone else endures it. It's not.</p>
<p>Here's another plug for community college. I teach psychology in the university transfer program at a community college program in North Carolina. Our students are a wonderful mixed bag-Iraq vets who are dead serious about their education, recent asian and latino immigrants who cannot afford the out of state tuition assessed on them at the state schools, folks returning to school (about 1/2 are from 4 year schools- we call them reverse transfers) after a long break, young adults who were poor students in high school and are returning and yes, immature kids trying to stay on their parent's health insurance policy who should probably enroll in Americorp and engage in community service for a year to learn and mature. My students transfer to all of the major state universities (yes-UNC-Chapel Hill takes about 300 CC transfers each year). As a transfer student, the colleges don't evaluate your high school work or require the SAT (UNC Chapel Hill included). The better schools do require a top GPA at the CC (around a 3.8 for UNC). </p>
<p>The faculty we have are outstanding. Many of us have a PhD and are very invested in student success. I communicate with many former students who have gone on to graduate school and law school.</p>
<p>My suggestions: 1) get therapy so you can learn what is real for you, 2) visit your local community college and research the university transfer program it offers and 3) look at other options (service year-catholic churches have great connections to these). I fully support the service year option. My son, who was miserable at a very competitive high school and now attends a small, less competitive school is considering this. Service to others can create a real sense of purpose in life and an appreciation for the strength of the human spirit and is a wonderful way of distracting yourself from your own angst. Keep passing the open windows. Reach out and consider alternative possibilities (you are already heading in the right direction by reaching out).</p>
<p>A classmate of mine in high school didn't enjoy the experience, so he basically dropped down to the minimum number of classes and did CC (same one I did for a year after high school). He graduated from UCLA and is now doing culinary arts education up in the Bay Area. I have no idea why or how, but he's kind of a free spirit and just does whatever makes him happy.</p>
<p>
[quote]
70k a year.....In California that is starving.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Depends on where you're at, really. I know people making that and living pretty decent lives in parts of the Valley.</p>
<p>"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>Did you select your classes? If you wanted the challenge why didn't you select the honors classes? What about AP courses - they ARE college level challenging classes and can give you that jump start on your college career.</p>
<p>Like others have mentioned, you need some guidance here from either the medical community or parental. Don't give up - and trust me, you will never get away from immature people....they are everywhere, be it in school or in the workforce. You just have to figure out how to work around them.</p>
<p>FYI:
You are eligible to take Pennsylvania's GED if you must meet the following requirements:
You are 18 or older
You are a Pennsylvania resident
You aren't enrolled in a public, private, or any other type of accredited secondary school.</p>
<p>Even though I hated high school at times, the education I obtained from my classes far surpasses the corresponding college classes that they were supposed to prepare me for.</p>
<p>I highly doubt that you are a hard working student or actually desire a challenge, as if you did you would be in honors or AP courses instead of standard college prep. Your best bet is to drop down to the minimum number of classes that you need to graduate and hold out for your diploma, dropping out and getting a GED is not a good choice.</p>
<p>Concerning BigVick and dropping out of school: there's a big difference between very intelligent people who dislike formal education (Einstein) and don't get a college degree (Bill Gates), and the rest of the people that don't complete their education. College isn't necessary for the best to succeed, but it won't hurt them and it's a good experience; college is not going to allow the worst to succeed and they generally don't go anyway due to financial or academic reasons; but for the average person, college is what makes the difference between blue collar and white collar careers, of which the former is having an increasingly difficult time surviving in the current climate of globalization and out-sourcing.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
but for the average person, college is what makes the difference between blue collar and white collar careers, of which the former is having an increasingly difficult time surviving in the current climate of globalization and out-sourcing.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Oh comeon...... That is copied right out of the front page of any college website.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is:
I can't believe people don't wake up and say "Why the hell am I throwing 20k at a Business(aka. College) to learn stuff I could easily learn through self-study. (Starting a small business,Books,Internet....) - Also, I can easily land a 40k a year job without a degree if I had some real life experince.... </p>
<p>To me: Having a degree means this:</p>
<ol>
<li>I wasted alot of money</li>
<li>I learned stuff I could have easily learned by myself</li>
<li>There is 4 years of my life gone.</li>
<li>Oh boy, Now I can go work for someone else..</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, No one on "THIS" board is going to agree with me.... It's about college..... To be honest I don't know why I continue posting here. (I just scroll through my bookmarks when Im bored...)</p>
<p>I have talked to my parents about it. They didn't react with yelling and anger which is surprising and made me feel a lot better. They want me to finish and get my diploma, as do I. They agreed to let me skip the social days my school has (it's a catholic school so they have things like retreats, game days (yes in high school), picnics, pep rallies, other stuff). I'm also making a a schedule change. I still want to keep the idea of getting a GED because it makes me feel better.</p>
<p>I have always wanted to take honors or possibly AP courses but my parents have always discouraged me. I don't know how it is in other schools but generally homework is 1/3 the grade 1/3 participation and 1/3 tests and most of the material for the test is taught in class verbally by the teacher. At my school I think the teachers are trained to give grades based on effort. There are however, some classes where its stricly tests. But beleive me, I want college, I want harder school work. I do have a low GPA but I'm not trying, at least not nearly as hard as I would if I were feeling "normal". I play the piano and I have a lot of discipline, and I know what hard work is, I have a challenging manual labor job.</p>
<p>My mom mentioned home-schooling but I have such a big family at holidays they would ask why. Also neighbors, friends, co-workers would wonder as well. This is not an option because it would be too embarassing.</p>
<p>I still don't know if I can do another 8 months. I'm going to try, and I thank all of you (some more then others) for your kindness and your time.</p>
<p>Have you thought of enlisting in the military? FINISH HIGH SCHOOL. DO NOT DROP OUT! </p>
<p>Look, colleges KNOW that sometimes stuff happens and people are struggling through teen years...but DONT give up. Keep at it.</p>
<p>If you are that depressed, go to your doctor and tell him....and perhaps your school counselor..and get some counseling. People WANT to help you and CAN help you...and you WILL feel better.</p>
<p>Motivation is tied to mental health...and that affects grades dramatically.</p>
<p>If you enlisted in the military....and if you are afraid of combat pick an MOS that is not likely to be sent into combat...or a branch of service that is not in the Middle East in combat....Coast Guard, Navy, Airforce....etc...</p>
<p>and serve 2 or 3 years....they will give you a signing bonus and you will be eligible for the GI Bill.....and you will GROW up a bunch...and colleges will take a whole different view of your application then than they will now.</p>
<p>I mean it.</p>
<p>How do I know? Because I did that. I graduated with high honors from college and then went onto graduate school where I excelled. The military changed my life completely.</p>
<p>1480 of 2400 is not optimal, especially with a decent GPA such as a 3.0. However, if you lag in one area because of, say, a learning disability or something along those lines, you'll have good chances at an in-state school.</p>
<p>Also, remember the community college option. Start there and then transfer in to a state school, or, hell, anywhere.</p>
<p>College means more than just working for someone else. It means the opportunity to do a lot of things you simply cannot do without a degree.</p>
<p>Tell the doctor you see that she "wasted" her time in college. Tell the engineer who designed your computer that he "wasted" his time in college.</p>
<p>I think we all acknowledge that one college or another can be a bad fit for this or that student. The compulsory instruction laws applied to high-school-age students mean that most of us aren't as used to thinking about shopping for high schools as we are about shopping for colleges. Perhaps the OP simply needs to switch out of the privately operated high school he now attends, which appears not to meet his needs, and find a different way to complete his secondary education. Nothing unmanly or bad about that--it's what everyone would do if the law and funding patterns for education had had more choice built in at the beginning.</p>