<p>Some of you on the board know that my older D is a Sophomore pursuing a music ed degree.
At this time my younger D has aspirations of a music degree as well. She is a Freshman in HS and her "big idea" is to finish HS in three years instead of four. She would take a lapse year before college to take a few classes at the community college (one would be the last English class needed for the HS diploma). Along with working p/t, she would spend more time to prep for the auditions starting in the fall of what would be her Senior Year in HS and wrap up the SATs & ACTs. Though my wife completed HS in 3 years and is encouraging this plan (and will meet with the guidance counselor soon to discuss) I'd appreciate any information / thoughts, especially if you've traveled this road.
thanks
JD</p>
<p>Haven’t traveled the road, or experience with kids peers who have, but just a couple of thoughts:</p>
<p>-Classes at the CC: the point to check is if the classes (at least one, as you mention an English) are actually required for hs graduation would appear as college courses taken during hs, or if they are actually college courses taken after graduation. I believe there is a difference in how these are viewed by the gods of admissions. You want to be sure she is treated as an incoming freshman for application and admission, and not as a transfer student with a few cc credits. Perhaps your guidance counselor or the experts here or in other parts of CC may help you clarify this.</p>
<p>-Maturity level: Does she, you and wife think she can pull this off without issues?</p>
<p>-Loss of peer/friend interaction: will she suffer greatly by not being in the circle of friends, in school activities, other EC’s? Peer interaction, ensemble play, allstate, other musical activities within the hs may also be missed. A kid specific question, but probably worth asking. </p>
<p>-Musical experience: kind of similar to above, but besides concentrated instruction (I can’t recall you specifying instrument or discipline) which I assume will be at a higher level than what she’s doing now, what about ensemble activity? She’ll be losing the high school based “stuff”, but will she have the opportunity to participate regularly in the appropriate level to maintain her chops? Local orchestra, youth orchestra, community choral groups depending on focus could supplant what she loses. </p>
<p>Again, just some points I’d ponder if my kid had asked a similar question.</p>
<p>If you haven’t already seen these:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/345925-musical-gap-year.html?highlight=gap+year[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/345925-musical-gap-year.html?highlight=gap+year</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/672731-info-gap-year.html?highlight=gap+year[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/672731-info-gap-year.html?highlight=gap+year</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/760563-gap-year-vocalist.html?highlight=gap+year[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/760563-gap-year-vocalist.html?highlight=gap+year</a></p>
<p>In a sense, my son is sort of on that track (he is heading into violin performance, is technically a freshman in high school, home schooled), and we have met other kids who are doing the same, who have in fact graduated earlier and so forth. </p>
<p>Is it doable? Yes, of course it is, your D can double up on courses, potentially take courses at a CC or whatever that the school might recognize, etc. There are some costs to doing that that I can think of…</p>
<p>1)The extra work load of taking extra courses, if done in school (as opposed to a summer school program at the school if it exists or an outside school where credit is given) could take away from other things that for someone heading into music are important.I am worried about practice time, given the extra time needed by someone seriously heading into music, and potentially high level programs outside school, like youth orchestras, prep programs, etc. It is true graduating early could give her time to focus on practicing for her auditions, but to be able to get into a good music program, I believe that you cannot make up for a lack the prior years that way, and having the extra school workload could take away from that practice time. </p>
<p>That said, kids have done just that, and moved into high level programs, so it is doable, it is just a stretch.</p>
<p>2)With the social aspects, that can be an issue, but I will add it doesn’t have to be. With my son and others who homeschool to be able to move forward with music, I haven’t found that lack, because most of them have social networks around music, kids they have met at summer music festivals, at other programs, etc. With going to school and finishing early, there is social interaction there as well, they won’t totally be pumpkins in their own patch, so to speak. </p>
<p>3)It also depends the kind of program she would be moving towards.Would it be an Ed degree which is more an academic track degree, or would it be performance at a conservatory? Getting into an academic program might make finishing early/where she takes the courses more of an issue, then a conservatory where mostly it is in the music/audition. </p>
<p>4)With school programs and things like allstate and other school oriented programs, I am of the opininion that if she needed to skip those to do this, as long as she has performance opportunities at a significant level outside of the school ones, she should be fine.</p>
<p>And obviously, it also depends on whether your daughter is willing to do that extra work, is she serious enough to do the sacrifices needed to graduate early, to focus on music and head into it? Not an easy question, but if the goal isn’t clear, then it may be hard to make the sacrifices/do the work required:).Especially trying to balance the extra school work with the many hours of practice required of serious music students IME, she might find that trying to practice X hours a day faced with research papers, math homework and so forth might be daunting. In the end, I would say that she is going to be the one who knows if it is right and go for it. Nice part is if she decides she doesn’t want to do this in the middle, she can go on and graduate in 4 years if she shifts back to ‘slow’ mode:)</p>
<p>I traveled a similar road and have advised my kids against it.</p>
<p>Colleges typically do not care whether students have a HS diploma; all they want is that students have taken their list of required courses. In my case, I had, and was accepted into several top colleges. (Since I only needed english and PE, my high school gave me a diploma after freshman year of college, having taken a year of english and PE. So your daughter may not need CC at all.) And off I went.</p>
<p>It was really tough – emotionally. Perhaps I wasn’t ready to be away from mom and dad. Perhaps I wasn’t ready to be a “grown up.” Perhaps the boys were sooooooooo much bigger than even the big boys at high school. (Think about it. I was 16 1/2 and there were 22 year old seniors on campus.) I don’t know. To others, I seemed fine. I got my work done, did my laundry, made friends, etc. etc. But it wasn’t fun the way my 20 year old son is now having fun at college. I did extremely well academically so that wasn’t an issue. </p>
<p>Even if my kids’ senior year ends up being largely social, I think that extra year of maturation is important. Life is long and one more year won’t make a big difference in the long run. We are adults for so many years but kids for such a brief moment. I’d really give this one some serious thought.</p>
<p>That said…my son got a letter from USC, which is actually recruiting students right out of 11th grade into a special honors program. Since that program presumably will provide some extra support to the young freshmen, and the music school there is well-respected, your daughter might look into that program.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>What about trying to front load all the required courses, and let her focus on music courses her senior year? My daughter is spending half her day in the music wing (electronic music, concert choir, strings, “voice” lessons - that have turned into piano lessons at her request). She leaves early one day per week to go to a voice lesson that’s far away, and the other days she stays for the auditioned choirs. Her only homework is in Shakespeare and AP French, which is giving her time to prep for auditions (yeah, we gave up on the gap year idea because I’d misread my Health plan - I missed the word “under” before 19).
I’ll let you know how it works out in the end later this year.</p>
<p>Just a thought –</p>
<p>Will the “year off” really give her all the extra time she envisions? Obviously, I don’t know the schedule she’s considering, but a couple CC classes and work could add up to as much of a commitment as the lighter senior year that some of the other posters are suggesting – especially if high school seniors are allowed to come late or leave school early in your district. (This is a rhetorical question – don’t feel compelled to answer publicly!)</p>
<p>Another thought – I think that many flute programs require pre-screen CDs. If the requirements are like violin (and the ones I’ve noticed are), the CD must be at the school/conservatory by December 1. That means that work on the CD pre-screen repertoire will probably begin before what would be the fall of senior year – so she may still have to balance preliminary audition work with high school.</p>
<p>I’d sit down and figure out the actual additional time that will be available with finishing high school early. With the pre-screen requirements and auditions beginning as early as December or January of what would be senior year, there may be fewer months off from high school to devote to practice than she realizes. </p>
<p>No personal experience with your question - which is very intriguing and well worth serious thought! - but I have known several string players who finished a GED and began conservatory - Juilliard, CIM, Indiana - early. (and of course, there’s Curtis…) From my perspective, I would say the results for the young people were mixed. All were certainly ready musically, but not all were ready for the rest of the college experience. Several had a very rough few years growing up… but perhaps that would have been the case even if they’d waited till 18.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Our daughter is doing the exact same thing for reasons having to do with dance.</p>
<p>I have all of the reservations expressed, but she wants to dance, and this seems to be the only way. It has been hard mixing school and dance for many years.</p>
<p>She has a full transcript from the high school through junior year. For senior year, she is taking a CC class and an online class, satisfying requirements for a diploma from an online private school that is accredited (but not optimal of course). PM me for info if you like.</p>
<p>She is still applying to schools/conservatories or may just dance.</p>
<p>The high school principal will give her a diploma from our local school if she completes English, Algebra 2, and an elective in addition to the work for the online diploma. That could also be done next year at CC, or online, and she is not in a rush.</p>
<p>She gets no credit at the high school for dance, which is not offered at all at her school. We are recreating the situation that kids have at private arts schools, and public schools with dance, where kids get credit for it.</p>
<p>I have concerns about social life, although she seems happy with quite a few friends from the high school and from dance. I also have concerns about the lack of 4 years of English, which I think is a good idea for everyone. I may homeschool that subject if she will tolerate my involvement!</p>
<p>We’ll see what colleges have to say about her transcript…</p>
<p>Compmom, We actually homeschooled junior year with English and German while she took US History, Theatre, Voice and Music Theory at the local performing arts school and we did PE over the summer. Now we are in senior year and she is back in public school taking her last three requirements Eco/Gov, AP English and math and at the performing arts school she is taking AP Music Theory and Voice IV. This way I get the diploma (she will have 32 credits when she graduates). There is a somewhat higher requirement for the “paperwork and testing” if you graduate from homeschool. However, homeschooling allowed us a lot of flexibility to add courses that she wanted to take.</p>
<p>My son was able to arrange his schedule so that he only went half time first semester senior year. He took the morning off to practice for his auditions. Second semester he added one more course which met first thing in the morning and then had “study hall” listed on his schedule while he went to the music wing to practice until his classes started again. This allowed him to do the music things he needed, finish the credits he needed, continue in his high school music programs and youth orchestra, both of which he enjoyed, and stay connected to his friends. It really was a great way to deal with this.</p>
<p>High school and life among peers is part of the journey…not just the movement toward goals. We all need social and personal experiences to mature, to encounter others similar and different, and to figure out what works and what does not through our own experiences of success and failure, and through witnessing others and their struggles. I am a big advocate of kids experiencing the world while they have the anchor of parental wisdom and family guidance. Good luck with sorting it all out and helping your daughter with her decision.</p>
<p>As the saying goes, it’s the journey that counts, not the destination. I worry that rushing through HS in 3 years - while certainly do-able in terms of academics - means that your D will wind up fast-forwarding past some of the important landmarks on the journey.</p>
<p>Believe me, I’m not romanticizing the Wonder of the High School Years. I myself did halftime college and halftime HS for my senior year (living at home), and that was a good compromise for me. I spent this evening listening to D3 berating “all those people who lied to me and said that senior year would be the best year of my life when it’s all stress about college and the teachers are pouring on way too much homework and people are being jerks and ohmigosh auditions begin way too soon”…</p>
<p>And as I massage my assaulted ears, I remember that a year at 17 and a year at my, er, more mature stage of life are two entirely different entities. An awful lot of growth happens between September and June, and a 17 year old feels each success (and failure) very, very deeply. Sometimes it’s better to experience that in the company of peers, in a high school setting where for a brief, shining moment, you share the illusion of being in complete control over the situation and your life.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s not.</p>
<p>I wish your family all the best as you struggle with helping your D find the right path for her.</p>
<p>Some interesting thoughts. I think the biggest thing that comes through to me is that there is no one right answer. It really depends on the child as much as it does anything else, with their path and its requirments and how it interacts with the rest of the world. Yes, the path is often more important then the destination, but sometimes there is no choice. For kids who are seriously into dance, or music, the path of going to regular school, which does have its advantages, can also be a serious hindrance to what they need/want to go into. If you look at kids going into ballet, many of them end up either homeschooling or in places like the Professional School in NYC, because ‘normal’ schools are simply too intrusive, and quite frankly the school administration doesn’t understand and treats arts prep in music and dance as ‘sidelines’ to the ‘serious work of school’, when in some areas that would mean giving up hope of a serious career…</p>
<p>I also know a fantastic cellist who took a year off after high school to solidify her technique and get herself ready for the high level of school she wished to go to…so maybe if someone finishes early, then dedicates the last year towards music, they will be ultimately prepared…</p>
<p>If my son decides he wants to finish high school early, he has already shown a level of maturity in dealing with older kids that when he reaches that point, I think he could handle it, but it depends, there are kids I know at 18 who aren’t ready (and heck, I know lots of adult musicians who I can’t understand how they get along <em>lol</em>…). </p>
<p>I wish you well, hope it comes up with 7 on the first roll:)</p>
<p>Hello Just a Dad in Oh: I thought you received a lot of thoughtful responses from the other posters, but I’m just curious as to your daughter’s motivation or reasons in wanting to follow this track. Ultimately, it won’t get her into college sooner because she is taking a lapse year. Is it to get the extra time to focus on audition preparation?</p>
<p>The pressure of pursuing music or dance, combined with school is almost untenable, even in a school like ours, that provides flexibility. Having that last year to take just one CC class, do SAT prep, and otherwise focus on music, sounds like a sanity-saving strategy, and is almost exactly what our daughter is doing this year.</p>
<p>For the original poster’s daughter, since she is a freshman, this idea may be a way for her to feel less pressured in the present. Giving herself that breathing space in the 4th year of high school may help her stay relaxed now. </p>
<p>Many high schools require 4 years of English only, but others require 4 years of other subjects as well. If the daughter needs to double up on history, science or math in the first 3 years of high school, in order to have that breathing space in the 4th, it may be stressful along the way. That would be a concern if she is trying to do music now as well as accomplish all those classes in 3 years.</p>
<p>But if that is a plan, it does need to be pursued early. We wished we had planned ahead of time, and it would have made our daughter’s path a lot easier to have thought of this plan in freshman year. So the poster’s daughter has great foresight here!</p>
<p>This is one time I’m glad that I started a thread. I appreciate all the conversation that is going on with this topic. I’ll fill in the blanks after I get some sleep. As some of you know I’m an IT guy and a part time recording engineer. I’ve just finished an all nighter on a crashed telephony server and needless to say am beat. Did I ever say “just buy a mac?”
thanks everyone.
JD</p>