<p>Tomorrow is my last day of summer school; I got a few courses out of the way this summer. I'll return to school in September as a junior, doubling up on a few classes to graduate class of 2011 rather than 2012. I'm just kind of bored with high school and figured I'd get it over with.
However I have no idea what I'm going to do after this year. I'm sort of in a no mans land. I may travel directly after, I may enlist in the Navy, the USCG, or the Merchant Marines. I've examined those options thoroughly and I'm ready to look at other options, one of those being college.
I'd like to pursue a Theatre major at SUNY Purchase. However, because I'm in limbo between junior and senior years, I have no idea when I should fill out my FAFSA, request grants, apply for college, or apply for scholarships. In my freshman and sophomore years, I didn't do as well as I would have liked to, I lacked focus, and didn't even know I was going to graduate early. I sort of did it off a whim, because I knew I could do it. So this year I'm going to commit and get hopefully straight A's. I'm like that, I'll get it done, and won't back out.
But this is the dilemma, I want colleges and scholarships to see my good grades of this year, but they can't because this year hasn't happened yet. I won't do well or get accepted with the sophomore year's grades, so what do I do? Should I defer college applications a year until my junior year's grades are visible? Should I apply now?
And if I wait a year, what do I do for that year? </p>
<p>All I know is I'm not backing out now, and whatever I do will probably work out fine. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>(mods, I'm unsure if this is the correct forum for this topic, feel free to move it)</p>
go to community college for two years and then transfer to a four-year institution. think of it like an extended gap year.
defer your application as you were saying, but you’re going to have to explain what you were doing since you left your school. which means you’d better be doing something good. i don’t know what is considered “good” but i guess you could try volunteering or something.</p>
<p>all in all i would say go for the community college. but you should probably ask this on a board where people know more.</p>
<p>How can you do this? I know many juniors who have already fulfilled their base requirements to graduate but cannot graduate early, instead take AP classes and stuff.</p>
<ol>
<li>Apply now. Which is at a disadvantage to you because of the grades.</li>
<li>Gap year -> Apply next year</li>
<li>Community College -> Transfer</li>
<li>Enlist</li>
</ol>
<p>^^ To be honest, you could enlist, get educated at a college which they pay for, then do service for 5 years + how long your education is. It’s not a bad route.</p>
<p>However, are you socially ready? By graduating early and going off to college, you take the chance of being socially unprepared.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that you do not ENLIST in the military. If you want to join the military, do ROTC for the scholarship or go to OTS/OCS after college and go in as an officer. It’s better in every way.</p>
<p>^ Exactly. It’s not work that would allow him to fulfill his potential. Also, I would advise against trying to get a college degree while enlisted unless you get a particularly easy MOS. It’s surely been done before, but it is by no means easy at all.</p>
<p>Well, you could apply this year. Regular Decision applications will allow colleges to see your first semester grades before making their decisions. If you are not accepted to a program you deem adequate, you can either take a gap year (go to Africa with a charity, conduct research, travel and write, do something you are passionate about, et cetera) and reapply the next year (with the benefit of your full grades and gap year experiences), or just go to a community college right after high school, do well, and transfer to a four year institution.</p>
<p>You can also do the military route, but be warned. I would not advise joining the army or marines simply to pay for college. Are you prepared to fight and die for your country? If you are male, you can be sent into combat. If you are female, this is not the pass out of combat that the policy would suggest, as battle lines in Iraq/Afghanistan are so blurred that females are in combat as we speak. The Navy, Air Force, USCG, and Merchant Marine are safer options, but life is still intense. You would have to be sure you wanted to live that life. Do you want to stay on a boat or in a submarine for extended periods of time? Do you want to spend years servicing airplanes? Do you want to fish Haitians (who just want a better life) out of the water? The option is open, but service in the military is never an easy option.</p>
<p>After rereading your post, I am filled with questions. First: why don’t you just finish high school normally, and not skip a year? Being “bored” isn’t a good reason. I’ve been bored with school since kindergarten, as I imagine nearly everyone else has as well. Plus, with your bad grades freshman and sophomore year, you are not going to get into a good college with just one year of straight A’s. Maybe you could if you got straight A’s 2 years in a row, but not one. Anyway, you don’t even have a plan for the future, which is the main concern. It’s not like you have something you really really want to do in life, and want to do it now. You’re not even sure yet, so why not just finish high school normally so that it gives you time to think your life over as well? There’s no point taking a gap year after finishing junior year - just take senior year instead. It would be wise to “back out” - even with the summer school credits you have, you can still take AP courses or online classes. There’s absolutely no reason to finish early.</p>
<p>^^^ The OP is someone who got bad grades in freshman and sophomore years, decided to graduate early “on a whim” because he “knew he could do it” and won’t back out. He thinks he can pull straight A’s in junior year. He wants to be a theater major. Anyone who considers enlisting in the military in hopes of getting closer to a theater degree is obviously not too good for the military. I’m wondering if this kid is good enough for the the military.</p>
<p>I asked my mother what I could do, she says she thinks (but isn’t positive) that I can apply in April, and they will see at least the first half of my junior year. Then, in my essay, I can play the “I did poorly and then shaped up” card. Can I do that? And if that doesn’t work, I like the option of doing a year of charity abroad, whoever said that is thinking smart. I’m not sure of the application process for Peace Corps (or similar organizations), but I’m imagining its pretty lengthy and arduous, particularly for a minor. </p>
<p>And really, I do have plans. But it seems like a better idea to have several plans, weigh out the pros and cons of each, and decide from that. Life isn’t a multiple choice test, but when you can make it MC, you should. See, I’m very mercurial, and I have a compelling need for variety in the way I think. I need to look at the problem at hand from every possible angle, and I’m doing just that. Don’t think “I’m not good enough for the military” or “I’m not ready for the world”; trust me, I’ve been dealt a tough hand (don’t know father, mom on drugs for first half of life) and I have a powerful desire to rise above that. I’ve already developed a certain maturity that life gives you FAST when you need it, I can handle whatever situation I end up in.</p>