My son, a rising sophomore, loves math and will have taken the highest classes his school offers (Calculus and AP stats). He can take dual enrollment math at a nearby college his last two years, but he’s concerned that not all his math classes will transfer and he’ll have to retake some classes in college.
His school offers students the option of finishing high school in three years, and he really wants to pursue this option. He is one of the older students in his class, and I’m not worried about his maturity level when starting college. We’ve talked about the social implications of finishing early - not graduating with his class, one less year to play his sport, etc., and are still weighing those.
My question is this: how will colleges view this in terms of merit aid? Based on a ninth-grade version of the SAT he took, he thinks he could get a 1500 on the SAT, and his GPA will be very high. We are a very debt-averse family, and he knows we won’t take out student loans for him or let him take any. We have told him we can pay $30,000 a year, which is enough to attend our in-state flagship or contribute to a private school with merit aid.
In terms of merit aid, would he be hurting himself to graduate in three years?
I don’t think so - merit is normally based on GPA and/or test scores. If he has the required credits, I don’t think it would impact merit.
Might be an issue for National Merit if that’s something you are considering but I think they have an exception for kids graduating early. Personally I wouldn’t worry about a math class not transfering, just think of it a GPA boost:-)
If you’re looking at options like your flagship that might give automatic merit or you can afford straight up, I think it could be fine.
If he’s competing against kids with a year more of high school for merit aid and/or spots at competitive private schools, I think that could be more challenging unless he has a special hook besides graduating early or being ahead in math. Merit at private schools is sometimes awarded at a school’s discretion. If other applicants have another year of AP classes, dual enrollment, and broader extra curriculars, that may put him at a disadvantage in some programs. Some privates do auto merit for certain scores. You will need to check individual schools of interest.
Some of this depends on what type of schools he’s interested in. If he’s looking at the ones that offer high merit for stats (U. Alabama - Huntsville is an example), those are generally state schools and the merit requirements are almost all based on pure stats, which it sounds like he’ll have.
If he’s looking for merit at a selective private college, though, it might be a disadvantage to graduate early because he won’t have as much time to develop the rest of his profile that he’ll need to be admitted and competitive for schools that admit on a holistic basis. For holistic colleges, they’ll also be evaluating his ECs and what personal characteristics he shows; the stats will just be one small piece. Has he had the chance to develop and shine in some ECs? If not, that extra year might give him time to do so which will make him more competitive for private holistic admissions purposes.
As long as he meets all the deadlines as if he were a senior, he should be fine. If there is a Dec 1 deadline for a scholarship or to have all SAT/ACTs completed, he’ll have to meet those deadlines.
There is no absolute answer (unless, as noted, you are talking about schools offering stats based merit), but I agree that at selective private colleges where fit is important, that extra year can be a big help.
For my son, the maturity in his writing and the added poise between 11th and 12th grade were startling. I’m convinced that the poise paid dividends with regional rep interviews for colleges that offered merit. DS was also unexpectedly asked to take on leadership roles in 12th grade which rounded out his application considerably. Most importantly, I think the added year made a big difference in my son’s ability to recognize and choose schools that were a good fit for him.
One more thing, since you said he doesn’t have an SAT score yet, at many schools the amount of merit offered for an SAT of 1510 vs 1580 is significant…like tens of thousands of dollars per year significant. So if his SAT doesn’t come in at nearly perfect, taking the extra time could be very much worthwhile.
For scholarships based on the strength of the application OR for competitive scholarships, this student might not have the breadth of “other” things considered besides grades and test scores.
If this is ONLY because of the strength of his HS or dual enrollment math courses, he might want to consider staying for the fourth year.
I would recommend starting school at 18, and this is only because it sucks going to college as a minor. You usually have to live at home. Having a girl/boyfriend is technically a crime and no one wants to risk it.
Regarding his maturity/readiness for college. You state he is an older kid for his grade. My gifted kid was 16 when he went off to a large flagship- wonderful for him. An important thing is the student’s motivation, which you state is there. In college no one cares how old a student is. My son had all four years of HS, plus the three of middle school. And top test scores.
Posters bring up some good points. His math skills may be very high but what about other skills? You want to educate the whole child, not just forge ahead with what interests him. Being in synch with HS friends is not important- they will all go their separate ways for college and he will make new friends with his interests and abilities.
The finances are paramount. He likely would have better credentials as a senior. Test scores higher as well. He should not worry about colleges not accepting college level math courses (as opposed to AP). Son was an honors math major. Your son may get accepted into more elite for math schools with the extra year under his belt. He would also find the beginning math levels different at various schools- his college while in HS classes won’t be the same as at say, MIT or even some flagships.
Be sure he hones his other skills. More than minimal/required classes in other fields.
How much math would he be able to fit in during 11th amd 12th grade if he stays in HS? Which specific classes would he take as dual enrollment? What is his longer range goal for math? Does he specifically want/need for the math credits to transfer, or would it be OK with him to just place into higher level courses by exam (many math departments do offer that option), and continue on from there?
For NM scholarships he would have had to take the PSAT as a sophomore since taking it this fall as a graduating junior/senior wouldn’t work. NM scholarships can be important if you want big merit money.
For schools that won’t accept the courses for credit, many of them will allow them for placement purposes.
If he wants to graduate early or he want credit, you are in a Catch 22 if wants admissions to an elite school. Graduating in 3 yrs can definitely put him at a competitive disadvantage compared to equally gifted kids staying in high school for 4. There are zero bonus pts for graduating early.
What are his long term goals? What is your budget? What schools does he want to apply to?
@coolguy40 minors can live in dorms. I did at 17, daughter did at 17.
Most states have ‘dating laws’ that define what could be a crime as sex with someone more than 2-3 years younger. It is not a crime to have a girlfriend/boyfriend who is a minor. It MAY be a crime to have sex with a minor, but that’s true in high school too. My daughter started high school at 13 and there were a lot of 18 and probably even 19 year old seniors at the SAME SCHOOL! Amazing I know, but they weren’t interested in her.
I think it will be fine at certain levels of selectivity as mentioned earlier.
A friend of ours had a S who did this last year and went to Wheaton college and I believe received good merit.
But not sure if the more selective schools merit policies and competition will be more challenging.
One point I do want to politely disagree with is the taking the sat over and over to try and get a perfect score.
On cc it seems commonplace but it’s a myth.
539 students out 1.6 mm test takers globally scored a 1600.
2400 received a 1580.
And 28000 scored 1500.
If he scores in the 1500 plus category it’s elite already, statistically. But a couple of tries is perfectly fine. But I would use the extra time to beef up the other areas.
The big piece of leaving early is the other components of the application.
An essay with a bit more maturity usually will be stronger.
More established and relevant ecs with leadership.
And most importantly letters of recommendation.
Many schools are not impressed with recs from a freshman class and maybe they don’t know him that well.
This is all meant in terms of competitiveness at more selective schools to get that merit money.