Not another early graduation thread

Applying to College
1

<p>I know there have been a lot of threads about early graduation, and most have been shot down, but in my case I think it's warranted. There are a few aspects of it I'd like some advice on. At this point I can't really see turning down 2 years at a great instate school for 4 years at a private school.</p>

<p>I'm only going to graduate early if I'm not accepted at my state magnet school, but seeing as its acceptance rate is ~20% I feel I must consider alternatives. </p>

<p>My school offers NO APs or courses beyond honors-level high school. Students are allowed to take online AP courses and community college courses.</p>

<p>This year I took 7 online classes, and I am absolutely annoyed with some many online courses. If it helps, here's what I've taken/am taking freshman and sophomore years: </p>

<p>Advanced Composition Honors, English I Honors, English II Honors
Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-calculus Honors, AP Calculus BC
Applications of Science Honors, Chemistry Honors, NASA Physics, AP Physics B
AP Spanish Language [Spanish 111,112,211,212]
AP Art History, Engineering Honors
World History Honors</p>

<p>Potential instate credit hours: 28-36</p>

<p>Summer 2009: English III Honors, Civics Honors, Intro to bowling [PED 120]</p>

<p>Junior or Senior Schedule (Projected) </p>

<p>AP Chemistry [CHM 151,152]
AP Biology [BIO 111, 112]
AP US History
Earth/Environmental Science Honors
English IV Honors
Introduction to Ethics [PHIL 240]
L.A. and D.E. [MAT 280, 285] or Discrete Math [MAT 381] online with state flagship
Multivariable Calculus [MAT 273]</p>

<p>Total Potential Instate Credit Hours: 60-70 (Junior Standing)</p>

<p>Sophomore SAT scores: 1870 (CR 670, M 500[?], W 640]
Intended College's 50 %-tile SAT Scores: ~1950</p>

<p>Intended major: Math and Philosophy</p>

<p>Alternatives: Transfer to another school [None around me offers much more, rank takes a hit, graduate with people I don't know], Take more online classes [Not again], Take no math and few science courses senior year [Makes no sense]</p>

<p>Pros: Will be valedictorian of a class of 1-2 people. (School lied to me about ranking, they said they didn't and they actually do. Currently I'm barely top 5/85 because I had to take Geometry and Algebra II standard) I'll save money, and I'll get to graduate school sooner. I hope to do a JD/PhD program.</p>

<p>Cons: Will be the sole or 1/2 students to graduate as THE FIRST class of my school, possibly upsetting those who thought they going to be the first class. [Talked to many students, none of them said they cared much.] Rank won't mean much in a small class. Lose out on high school? Will graduate from college before my brother (Who is a rising college freshman), may put me on bad terms with him. Will be much younger than everyone else. </p>

<p>*** Moment: Am I seriously doing 4 years of high school and 2 years of college in 3 years combined?</p>

<p>Is there anything else I should consider?</p>

2

<p>Bump </p>

<p>Any advice? Am I doing the right thing or are there other alternatives I haven’t considered?</p>

3

<p>If this is not in the right forum, could some one move it to the correct one? </p>

<p>50 views and no response whatsoever?</p>

4

<p>hi</p>

<p>um…I’m just confused - what are you asking??? what kind of school do you go to? and what are you trying to get into? and what about being the first class to graduate?</p>

<p>i’ve just never heard of something like this lol…
which is why i can’t think of how to respond</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>See my overarching problem with this thread is I want to express and incredibly complicated situation in less than 2 pages.</p>

<p>I’m looking for reassurance that I’m doing the right thing, and if not what other opportunities may be available. I’m applying to my school’s magnet high school. For college I’m actually planning to do QuestBridge, and if I’m not matched I’ll probably forward a few of those applications and apply EA to my state’s flagship, 1 private school, and 1 other instate public school.</p>

<p>Currently I’m at a very small (150 students) public high school. However, we are new and have an admissions process. Only rising 9th grades are eligible to apply, and therefore we currently have no juniors or seniors. If I graduate next year, I’ll be the ONLY senior, the first class, and thus will graduate by myself as valedictorian and sole member of the first class.</p>

<p>Does that help at all? lol</p>

6

<p>AHH…lol I was wondering how you’d be the only person in your class etc.</p>

<p>hmmm…well yes I definitely agree on the magnet school idea - when I was much younger, I lived in a poor school district and very luckily received one of the positions in magnet school and made alpha later on, as well.</p>

<p>And to me, this makes me wonder why anyone would apply (competitively) to get into what sounds like not such a great school, to put it nicely.</p>

<p>I have no experience with a case like yours, but what I could suggest as an alternative:
do some independent research in science or the humanities - write some papers, enter competitions, really hash out your interests. Kind of like a gap-year activity. I’m not sure you will be totally happy in college being 2 years younger than everyone…</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I can’t actually imagine how rare that is. </p>

<p>My state’s magnet school follows a pretty strict rubric, and so I’m not sure if I’ll be getting in or not. There are a decent number of other people in my state who have had the opportunity to take AP and college classes in person, and done pretty well. I’ve had a lot of trouble with my online AP and college courses. Not to mention my extremely low math SAT score.</p>

<p>Accepted students to my school take all honors courses, and can take community college courses, possibly earning their Associates degree (which I don’t want to do). The other high schools around me offer maybe 7 APs at most, normally: AP Bio, AP English Language, AP English Lit, AP Calculus AB, AP Euro, AP US, and AP Government/Politics.</p>

<p>Transferring would get me nowhere as it would leave me with AP English classes (which must be taken in ADDITION to regular English) and the credit for high scores on the exams at my state colleges (which I’m most likely to attend) is the same credit as the credit I would already have by virtue of my SAT scores.</p>

<p>That leads me with AP Bio, AP Euro, AP US, and AP Government and Politics. </p>

<p>I can take the equivalent of AP Bio at the community college in person, then take the AP exam, I can take AP US online, and AP Government and Politics isn’t going to do a whole lot for me.</p>

<p>Also, using community college courses to meet HS graduation requirements at a different high school is complicated, I wouldn’t qualify to take as many courses with the community college legally, and so I’d be in a worse shape.</p>

<p>I do not believe I have to resources to do independent research (The only 4 year college in driving distance is like 30 minutes away and is a glorified community college). I am also afraid I may not have the intelligence to compete in national competitions and there are no local competitions in anything. I can ask the community college to do an independent study, but the school has been extremely resistant to anything out of the ordinary. </p>

<p>I could also see about the community college honors program, but most courses are intro courses I don’t need or courses that won’t transfer. </p>

<p>I’m ambivalent about whether I want to go to undergrad for 4 years, or just go to a great state school with Junior Standing. This would mean however, that I would be graduating at 19, 3 years younger than my peers. I’m not sure if I really have a problem with this though, because by the time at get out of graduate school at 23 to 25 I don’t think most people will care.</p>

<p>I had been worried about graduating from college before my brother, but if I graduate in 4 years and go to a state school I’d be graduating the same year he is.</p>

8

<p>Rebump, any more input?</p>