Ok, so, I’m not very worried about the financial aspects, mostly just about the scheduling of my courses. It’s a selective independent semester program run by Milton Academy that anyone can apply to, and it seems like a great and wonderful opportunity, BUT I won’t be able to take APs for two of the courses (English and science), and according to my guidance counselor, if I go to the fall semester, I will be placed in English 3 Honors rather than AP Lang, and I would have to take Environmental Science Honors rather than AP Chem/Bio. If I do the spring semester (I’ll be missing golf season at school), then I will take 1/2 a year of AP Lang and AP Chem/Bio, and 1/2 a year of English 3 Honors and Environmental Science Honors, but will only get credit for the Honors courses and not the AP courses (they will just be counted as honors). I don’t know if this makes sense, but I am so conflicted about what to do. The whole program seems like a wonderful opportunity, but I don’t want to sacrifice the rigor of my schedule or seem like a slacker in junior year just because I chose to do this program. Any help would be highly appreciated!
I think you need to be able to articulate why you want to do this and then compare the power of those arguments with what you’d be giving up. Why is AP English so much better than Honors, for example? If you truly need the GPA boost that AP offers (if you go to a school that weights), it might not be a good idea. If, on the other hand, you can still have a great education in English but it won’t be tailored to a particular test at the end of the year, who cares? You may find yourself explaining your decision in your Common App or at interviews, so it may help to try to think it through up front.
A friend’s son did this program and really liked it. For him, getting “unplugged” in and of itself gave him a much stronger sense of himself as did going to a place where he didn’t know anyone (because he’d always lived in the same place and always knew some of his classmates.) The teaching was good, etc. And depending on where you live now, a farm in VT could be a real change of pace as could the student body.
In a nutshell, I wouldn’t rule this out because of what it will look like but I’d consider what it could offer that your current situation cannot. I would also seriously investigate the academics – you may find it as (or more) rigorous as your current program.
I’m not sure if they handle things differently in terms of courses, but maybe look at High Mountain Institute as well: http://www.hminet.org/semester/about