Impact of graduating HS a year early and applying the next year on elite college admissions?

Applying to College
1

So for whatever reason, my (public and astoundingly bureaucratic) high school has been going out of its way to make my life difficult. My counselors and administrators have spent the last year or so shamelessly lying to me and other students about course selection requirements, rules for dropping classes, college application processes, etc. to the point where it’s ridiculously laborious to break the mold and purposefully pursue anything. Although I’m one of the top students, I’ve also gone about certain things in terms of course selections, etc. in unconventional (and occasionally unprecedented) ways, which for some reason seems to anger the usually formulaic guidance department to no end. I’m a junior this year, and my course selection process for next year has become so convoluted that it seems like I could easily be stuck in a schedule that would completely disrupt and nullify the scrupulously thought out course sequence I’ve been pursuing for the past 2 years (as in, if it goes wrong, my entire high school career, not just this year, would look jumbled, irrational and lazy enough that colleges would scoff at it, whereas if it goes right, it would look logically designed and motivated). Moreover, my connections with the school aren’t really helping me, since my counselors are pissed enough at me that their recs will probably be pretty bad anyway, the guidance department is, frankly, misguided enough that their primary impact on many students’ college app processes is to sabotage them, and most of my ECs aren’t school based, or at least don’t have to be in any meaningful way.

Recently I realized that if things with the school hit the fan enough, I have another intriguing option: I have enough credits that, if I can figure some things out administratively, I could take a couple classes over the summer (2 would need to be at the HS summer school, plus maybe 1 or 2 college classes) and have sufficient credits to graduate HS after this year. I could then take a couple more college classes to tie up the loose ends of my HS schedule. Meanwhile I could use the time this fall that I would otherwise be spending in high school to seriously improve my extracurricular resume (like, in my current situation, a few hundred extra hours of spare time would actually boost my accomplishments by orders of magnitude). In this scenario I would still apply to colleges next winter just like I would otherwise. I was planning to take a gap year after admission regardless, so I could just do that 2nd semester next year.

How would a decision like this impact my chances at top colleges (i.e. top 5 LACs and ‘lower Ivies’)? Would it totally ruin my chances, or could it just be seen as interesting and practical if I can substantiate it well enough in my app? For background, I have some iffy grade history in my transcript (with legitimate excuses that can easily be explained to colleges, that are such that there is no risk of experiencing similar issues in college) but a very strong junior year (all A/A- in 5 APs, 1 online AP, & 1 honors that’s actually the same class as an AP but called honors for juniors as a technicality) and near perfect test scores, and pretty good ECs that could potentially be exceptional if I had enough time to follow through with them (which this extra freedom might provide me). Any thoughts?

2

Sounds like a minefield, and your inability to navigate the human and institutional relationships needed to succeed and gain support doesn’t bode particularly well, nor does your belief that your grade slip-ups can be “easily explained” to colleges. Colleges are bureaucratic as well, after all, and the friction you’re experiencing may be a red flag.

I advise you to do the best you can to salvage relationships at your school and expand your college targets to include some great match and safety schools that won’t have to overlook your spotty record in order to admit you. @nac7890

3

“lower Ivies” – do you mean the Ivy league schools that take 9 or 10 out of 100 applicants rather than 6 or 7 out of 100 applicants? Come on…

You really need to learn to work with people in a cooperative manner (and yes, you may not get everything you want), display maturity and flexibility, and develop a reasonably list of reach, match and safety colleges.

4

@marvin100 my issues here are stemming exclusively from my school’s incredibly rigid structure and limited resources, which logically shouldn’t be issues (to nearly the same degree) in college, along with the fact that certain counselors are, quite literally, lying to me through their teeth about crucial processes for their own personal gain. I obviously don’t want to qualify that on the public forum, but I’m at the point where I don’t really know what else I can possibly be doing to endear myself to these people. It just seems like I could more effectively represent myself than have myself be represented by people who are indifferent to me at best and hostile at worst (and who also force you to do the app process in a certain way that would likely make mine even less effective). The way I see it, staying in the school through this process is more of a minefield, not to mention wasting more of my time, than figuring it out myself would be.

By the way, when I say the grades can be ‘easily explained’, I meant, like, legitimate, medically documented physiological issue that I have since made a non-issue (again, don’t want to qualify this here, but colleges will recognize that logically the same thing could not translate into an issue in a college environment).

My college list does include plenty of match and safety schools, some of which are stat-based and will not be issues either way; I wanted to know about my top schools to get a sense of the impact, because they’re the places where I’ve gotten the sense that such things are a problem.

My main concern is just whether colleges are okay with such an educational background in general. It seems like literally no one ever does this and ends up getting in places, even when it’s not a last minute thing or a minefield. Would colleges have a problem with this plan itself, or just secondary problems with what it’s necessity says about me?

5

It would be a mistake. Take off your special snowflake hat and finish high school. One thing you need to get into a good college is a recommendation from your guidance counselor. I can’t imagine that you will get a strong one right now given your posts. I’d spend the year getting great grades in the courses available to you, doing dual enrollment at a CC if that is an option (but not pitching a fit if it isn’t), and working hard to repair your relationship with the GC.

6

@happy1 I used the term in quotes for a reason… is that not the term used to describe such schools on this (admittedly toxic) site? I used that to give a general idea of the type of reach schools I’m referring to. Did you want me to instead write down my entire college list?

Funny, I haven’t had any issue cooperatively working with anyone anywhere else, and I have no expectation of getting “everything” I want. I just have an expectation that people hired to help students won’t actively try to sabotage me, and that’s what’s been happening (again I obviously don’t want to give details here). I’m working with people who have a personal vendetta against me for having ambitions, and use it to justify repeatedly pulling the rug out from under me. I’m sorry, but I really don’t have a reasonable way to sugarcoat that.

I know you probably think what I’m saying is some frenetic hyperbolic rant, but assuming my assertions are accurate. Am I supposed to just let these things slide repeatedly and let myself get screwed time and time again? Isn’t it more reasonable for me to be taking steps to remove myself from the toxic situation?

7

OP,.

1 taking ANY college classes AFTER you graduate from HS would mean you would be treated as a transfer student . which GREATLY reduces your chances at "top" colleges.

And there is NO WAY to hide an enrollment at a community college. Colleges use this website to check all incoming students enrollment records.

http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/colleges/enrollmentverify/

  • If they find you did enroll and take college classes and did not report it, and they will find out- you would be expelled. So bite your lip,, and stop fighting the system AT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL.

2 It will do you NO good to have your college counselor or teachers say that despite your intelligence, you were a difficult student to deal with. That will torpedo your application immediately.

Colleges, especially TOP colleges, want NICE, smart students, who can get along with others and are eager to learn, and not insufferable know-it-alls.

8

What about transferring to a different (public) high school for senior year (where I already have connections with a lot of people there)? It’s holistically considered a ‘better’ school, they’re apparently better at managing college apps, I’m at least as, if not more, capable of getting great grades there, I would probably do better in terms of recs etc. to get a fresh start (I’m honestly not that difficult a person in reality), and I could probably be able to take more of the classes I should be trying to take with less risk of being screwed administratively. Would this be a better idea or would it also have ‘red flags’ (I don’t see how it would since people have to transfer high schools all the time)?

9

ONE year at a new HS is NOT going to benefit you. People dont “transfer all the time” especially for only their Sr year. It would cause college admissions officers to wonder “why”, and top colleges receive SO many applications from qualified, acceptable students that they have to LOOK for reasons to reject students. Dont give them one. IN ADDITION, they WILL need to see your transcript from your former HS . And they may contact the GC there to get a better “read on you” as a student, since you were there for 3 years.
The best course of action is stay put, do your best academically , bite your tongue, dont make waves and mend fences with your teachers and above all your GCounselor.
Keep repeating to your self- “only one more year” and-" it is what it is".

10

To be completely clear: I haven’t been making waves except when absolutely necessary, and in response I’ve currently been placed in a schedule with like 3 academic classes (including: NO science after 2 years of As in AP sciences; repeating an AP that I self studied and got a 5 on in sophomore year; and none of the 3 APs I requested that pertain to my potential college path). Last year I ended up stuck with 2.5 study hall periods per day because they refused to tell me what other options were offered other than craft arts. At one point, I was constantly told by everyone in the administration for 6 months that all classes could be dropped until the end of 1st semester; then in November, when I actually requested to drop a class, I was instantly made privy to the fact that the aforementioned assertion was simply an outright lie, and drops after September were impossible (it seems they assumed that I would never actually use the policy, so they just made something up with the assumption that they would never actually have to back up their claims). Last year when I tried to get a testing accommodation with teacher survey forms that were due in August, and my GC wasn’t coming back to work until September, the College Board reps advised us that I or my parents should distribute the forms myself, but the GC actively obstructed this, telling all my teachers not to fill out the form if provided by me, but then not doing it herself either, so as to intentionally prevent me from getting the necessary accommodation without going over her head. This is just a small sampling of what I’m referring to. It’s not just the typical “you can’t always get what you want”; it’s obstruction and misinformation far beyond any reasonable expectation. I’ve been doing everything possible to try to clear things up with my GC, but I’ve increasingly discovered that whatever I do, she simply can’t be bothered.

Is there really nothing else I can do but to desperately hope that I can escape the next year without having my years of hard work sabotaged yet again?

11

Actually, transferring to a new HS might be a good solution: sounds like a lot of bridges have been burnt, and thus even a neutral rec from the GC may not be possible.

However.

You asked for opinions, and imo, there is another side to this story that you need to recognize and own (not necessarily here, but at least to yourself and possibly to some of the powers that be around you).

This:

[quote]
I’ve also gone about certain things in terms of course selections, etc. in unconventional (and occasionally unprecedented) ways, which for some reason seems to anger the usually formulaic guidance department to no end./quote.

from the admin side it could read as ‘know it all kid has shoved through things his own way for the last two years which now requires us to accommodate him in ways that disrupt other parts of our system’

which may be part of why

However, it is hard to imagine that 3 years of rigorous classes could end up looking lazy b/c your senior year rigor is less (which is obviously not good in itself, but it seems hyperbolic to say that it would ruin the whole 4 years)

Also:

It is exceptionally rare that counselors and admin lie to students ‘shamelessly’, particularly for ‘their own personal gain’. What are your reasons for thinking that they are doing that- and what do you think that their motivation is?

And finally:

there is nothing in your text or tone that says you have done anything at all to endear yourself to them, or even to understand their point of view or limitations.

12

@collegemom3717 I totally understand how all this sounds. There’s a lot more back story to all this, but I’ve honestly spent a lot of time trying to make things right over the course of HS. I recognize that my tone sounds incredibly harsh here, whch is of course largely a reflection of my frustration towards this process now after 2 years of running in circles.

The thing is, the things I’ve done differently shouldn’t be any more effort to implement; they’re just course schedules like anyone else’s. In fact, they’re giving themselves more work by withholding information from me so that I have no means to figure out solutions. It just seems to be more of a stubbornness thing; like they’re frustrated that they thought I would be unable to follow through things and I proved them wrong. I could be totally off base on this but it’s the impression I’m getting.

Finally, I do have good reasons to believe counselors are “lying through their teeth”; for obvious reasons, I won’t share more information about that here.
Ultimately I may well be completely in the wrong in this situation, which I recognize. I nevertheless need to do something about it, and my efforts to patch things up with the GC haven’t really been helping.

13

I suspect you have exhausted your GCs and administrators with constant demands to be treated differently.

If you change high schools, you will be asking teachers for recs that have only had you for a month or two of class at most. That is risky as well.

14

You don’t seem to get what we’re reading in your words, OP. It comes across as attitude.

And Fyi, yes kids can take classes at a local college. Plenty do DE and apply as first years. The transfer pothole is if you enroll in a degree granting program, matriculate. Big difference.

15

The pothole is also if you take any of the classes after your high school graduation date. Some colleges don’t allow that for incoming frosh.

16

No, I completely understand how it sounds, and I hate having to be so blunt about this. It’s not as if I sound like this most of the time or anything. I just thought it would be in everyone’s best interest for me to be as frank as possible about my situation in this thread, so that people would have the information necessary to suggest the best possible course of action. I didn’t think this was going to be a moral argument about my history; I was just asking what steps I should be taking given my present situation in case things continue to go wrong.

So, assuming that my status with the admin is really irredeemable (which very well might not be the case; I just want to have a course of action in case things go sour), what should I be doing? Are either of the options I suggested viable solutions, or should I be trying to think of something else?

17

btw, @intparent , don’t people sometimes ask senior year teachers for recs anyway? In which case, wouldn’t I have the same amount of time with those teachers as I would if I went to a new school?

18

You should just go to high school next year, whether at your current school or transferring. Stop fighting with them. Show some maturity and try to rebuild your relationship with the GCs if you stay at your current school. Focus on doing well in the classes you are in, building your ECs, and finishing up any testing you need to do for the fall. If you can dual enroll at a CC and need more rigor in your schedule, AND your HS allows it, do that. Or transfer and take the hit on having new recommenders across the board senior year, and possibly losing traction in any school based ECs you are involved in.

19

Most people ask junior teachers for recs. The problem with senior teachers is that they barely know you. If you are applying early anyplace (due to EA or ED or rolling admissions), the letters have to be done by the end of October, and you have to ask with a fair amount of lead time. So you could be asking by end of September for letters from teachers who have known you for a month.

20

This sounds like a better plan.