Online High School Diplomas & Early Graduation

Applying to College
1

My daughter is proposing that we allow her to complete her high school degree online in 3 years instead of the traditional 4. She wants to go into film and believes this is the fastest way to meet her career goals. As parents, we believe while there must be some excellent online options out there, online school cannot be viewed as favorably as in person instruction, at least not under typical circumstances. So…

  1. How are online degrees viewed by college admissions, particularly for film students?
  2. We live in NY State. Would she still qualify for federal and state aid with an online degree?
  3. How do college admissions offices view finishing high school early?
2

You might want to take some of your questions to the Home Schooling forum. To find it, go to the Home page, and scroll down to Pre-College. Here is a direct link: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/

There also is a Film major forum inside the College Majors forum. Here is a direct link for that: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/

  1. Online diplomas in and of themselves aren’t a problem. What will matter is what she does in the process of completing her high school education. Also, for serious film students (as with actors, musicians, dancers, painters, etc.) her portfolio and production samples may matter much more than anything else in her application.
  2. @sybbie719 is one of our NYS experts. She probably will be able to tell you about any special NYS issues with financial aid.
  3. Each institution has its own take on finishing HS in 3 rather than 4 years. So spend some time investigating the places that are likely to be on her list. It really is OK to just ask the admissions teams there what their policies are.

How much art is she making right now? Where is she sharing/posting/etc. it?

3

NYS doesn’t recognize online diplomas. Check NYSED’s [Homeschooling Regulations 100.10](http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html) to see what the state requires from homeschoolers. What grade is your daughter in now?

4

Hi,
I am in a very similar situation as your daughter.
I believe colleges don’t care as long as you are not compromising courseload. For example, I might only take 3 credits of Science and 3 in Social Studies in online high school but if I were at a normal high school without intent on graduating early I would have taken closer to 5 credits in Science and Social Studies.