<p>…Bump!!</p>
<p>I think it’s nice of your school to let you take APs freshman year…we can only start taking APs in 10th grade.</p>
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<p><em>giggle</em>
Don’t graduate early. Seems as if you still have things to learn.</p>
<p>It’s not for bragging rights. I could care less, I am not the kind of person who brags. Honestly, I don’t see High School as the best 4 years of my life, maybe college will be. I want to just keep moving forward, and if there is nothing that is of value to me in High School (No courses that interest me, end of most course paths, not many interesting APs left) why should I stay one year? Because of some graduation ceremony or prom, or what? Wouldn’t my time be of better use going to college, learning stuff that interests me and is useful to me? My question isn’t really, “will i regret it”…it’s “what do colleges think of it”, and take into account my reason, and that truly is my reason.</p>
<p>The problem is that less colleges are going to be willing to accept you with only three years of school. It’s not impressive that you have the ability to graduate early.</p>
<p>Stay in high school. Even if you manage to finish all your course requirements by junior year, stay for senior year to take advanced classes. I could graduate a semester early, but that would be stupid, because I’d miss out on the opportunity to take four AP classes. A college will not like it if you finish the bare minimum in junior year and decide to leave. Take more APs, or spread your schedule out more to allow for interesting electives (not that I can judge on electives. I’ve only taken two in high school and I’m a rising junior, with no plans to do any more).</p>
<p>CSIHSIS is exactly right. Like I said in your other post, I could’ve graduated sophomore year. I talked with several admissions officers (from many great schools), and it’s not a good idea. I know, it’s tempting to just graduate and move on. I’ve just kind of been taking college classes (dual enrollment), and extra APs/honors.</p>
<p>Bro, you’re 14 and you haven’t even started high school.</p>
<p>1Rachel94, what do you mean by “Dual Enrollment”, I mean I know about it a little, but could you please give me some more information? Also, CSIHSIS said it’s not very impressive. I know that, but wouldn’t you think college’s would take into account that I would be graduating early and didn’t have the chance to take all the extra electives?</p>
<p>You did have the chance to take more electives…by staying another year.</p>
<p>Dual enrollment is just taking college classes at your local university. It’s really cool because you can take so many extra classes. But, colleges don’t like when you graduate early. Junior year is most important and they don’t get to really see junior year if you graduate early.</p>
<p>1Rachel, Thanks for that information, however it didn’t help me. I understand the concept of dual enrollment, but what I don’t understand is when do you take the classes? on the weekends? at night? do you leave school early to go to classes (my school has a closed campus policy), how do you actually take all the classes? Also, is it lots of work having work from both ends? What’s your schedule for it exactly, how long do you spend on work, what kind of classes are you taking in HS and at your local university? Another problem I have at my school is that lots of people who have gone to my HS as well as others, or know about other’s in the same classes at other schools, say that my HS gives Waaaaayyy more work than other high schools do. Ex, for someone taking the same courses in another township near us, they may get 4 hours of hw, at my school we would get 6-7 hrs. So I don’t know if that is the best idea for me. However, about the classes I’ll be taking in my Jr. (and maybe Sr.) Year, I have heard the teachers don’t give much hw and are very lenient, so maybe it won’t be as much of a problem. But as of freshman 5th day, I am getting 4 hours a night, and I have heard it’ll almost become 6-7 soon.</p>
<p>There are some Saturday classes but most are at night/in the afternoon. We get free periods for every dual enrollment class we get. So, okay, I have 2 DEs this year. I’m also a student aid. I go to regular school from 9:15 to 2:40 everyday (I get 2 hours of sleep in time, basically). My DE classes are Monday, 6:30-9:15, and Tues and Thurs 5-6:15. This works because I still have time to do ECs on the weekend and do my 1 club (I have 1200 volunteer hours because that’s basically all I do on weekends, so it makes up for my lack of other ECs). I also still have time for homework. The difficulty of DE classes depends on what you take.</p>
<p>Here’s what you do. Enroll at your local community college. Be VERY aware of add/drop dates for classes WITH a refund. Usually, you get to sample several class periods. In college, your classes will usually only be one day a week for several hours at a time (for instance, 3 hours each Thursday night for a 3 credit hour class). Look specifically at night classes. In the spring semester of my senior year, I took three dual enrollment classes at my high school plus two additional night classes at the CC. Given, night classes are generally filled with older people looking to continue education, but that shouldn’t pose a problem. You should receive the CC class syllabus the very first day. Unlike high school syllabi, college course syllabi have EVERYTHING spelled out, from homework assignments to each paper or exam. See if this is manageable with your high school schedule. Keep in mind that you’ll do a lot of reading from the textbook and only “have” to attend class one night a week. Even those aren’t necessarily mandatory as long as you don’t miss too many classes. </p>
<p>The key here is to pick courses that interest you AND that aren’t lab sciences. Lab sciences take more time and you must enroll in a corresponding lab, which sucks up more time. I took psychology and sociology in the same semester that spring term of my senior year. All in all, I had nine courses (my school didn’t offer AP though) and the courseload was rough at times (the sociology course was paper-intensive) but definitely manageable for me. It’s all about drive and work ethic. CC courses generally work around school hours, as some people work during the day and go to class at night. You may have to sacrifice some EC hours, but I was able to find a way to run varsity track and do all my other ECs with minimal sacrifice (only missed two unimportant track meets and part of another, if I recall correctly).</p>
<p>You can take your college classes during the school day, also. Not just at night.</p>
<p>I graduated a year early many years ago and did a fourth year at prestigious prep school. Because i already had a HS diploma I was allowed to pretty much take whatever I wanted to, exploring the school’s very rich elective menu. My interests were in the humanities, but had they been in the sciences and math I could have had just as strong an academic experience. I got to learn about being away from home, about managing a rigorous (much, much more rigorous than my public HS) academic schedule with ECs and a lot of personal freedom…in short a great way to prep for college. I would recommend looking into this option, but only for someone who has fully embraced three years of high school fully. I worry that you are already assuming you are “done” with HS, which is really sad. High school is about a lot more than classes and test scores. It IS about friends and prom and going out on Saturday nights. That stuff is part of growing up and into a fully-emerged adult who can work well with others in the workplace and be a good person overall.</p>
<p>Hilldweller, How much did that prep school cost? Also, how was it, as in what was your schedule? Are you in college now? If so, which one? Also, about me getting “the full high school experience” my parents are really strict, i.e they don’t let me waste time going to prom, asking someone out, going to football games and stuff. So yeah, that’s why.</p>
<p>Also, Rachel and Ptontiger, thanks a lot for the info. It helps, ill look into that for my own school and my area. Also, I don’t hear of lots of people in real life (as in people I know personally, of course you guys are real, so not “real” life, but just not the internet) who have done DEs, is it good for college applications? Also, what DEs do you recommend if I want to be an engineering major. Hopefully doing this will lighten my work load, as in not having 8 hours of class followed by 8 hours of other work. That was my number 2 reason to Early grad, so I have like 3 hours classes and the rest of the day to my own schedule, so I can do my work when I want and have more freedom in college.</p>
<p>@imscared6 You can’t say that you’re parents won’t let you do something you haven’t had the opportunity to do yet(like going to prom). </p>
<p>Also, you can totally dual enroll, and that would be great for you and all, but have you ever thought about exploring your interests through your electives? I know you’ve said that nothing really interests you as far as normal classes are concerned, but there isn’t anything that you’d like to take just to see if you would like it? What about would shop? Communications? Art class? An additional foreign language? The way I see high school is like this: even if your school has limited resources and funds, electives are offered. Some might seem a little interesting, others may not, but it’s basically a whole range of classes to take to see if you want to spend your future working in that kind of field. For example, my school doesn’t offer a journalism class but it offers communications classes. We have a huge television studio, radio station, recording center, Apple computer lab, and alllll of this other stuff. We work really closely with the community and we’re always doing jobs for businesses in the area. Yes, I’d love to be writing scripts and making up reports and doing broadcasts the whole class period, but my communications class has also given me many other things. I know how to use a wide range of machinery, I have many contacts, and I know how to use certain software programs that I would have never even touched had I not taken one of the communications classes at my school. If anything, it’s reinforced my thoughts that becoming a journalist when I grow up is definitely what I want to do. I wish my school offered classes on politics, but the closest I get to that is APUSH. Even if you’re stuck taking a cooking class, it’s worth it. </p>
<p>Stay in high school for four years. It will be worth it. Your parents will lighten up. Everything will fall into place. Try to enjoy your high school experience. It sucks, I know, but you have to make the best out of it.</p>
<p>Most colleges want you to complete degree requirements at their institution. You can dual-enroll in courses not included in your major, but if the course is a pre-requisite, chances are the college will require you to take it again at their institution. This ensures a standard that each department adheres to for its members.</p>
<p>You are so young that you have not yet experienced some of the approaches kids take to make hs challenging and enriching. You don’t quite know the lingo or concepts. You are making an issue out of the amount of homework hours or non-lenient teachers, what hours you could do cc classes. Etc. You need to stand back and see what you can accomplish this coming year. Test yourself. </p>
<p>In post 1, you asked: What do colleges (Such as MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, University of Illinois) think of early grads? For top level colleges, the competition won’t be stopping short. These schools can cherry pick among the finest kids out there, academically and in terms of the contributions they make in their worlds, despite their youth. Many of them are routinely putting in max homework hours through hs, plus studying for standardized tests, working in research, plus sports, relevant clubs and community involvement. AND, plenty of time for friends and hobbies. They are both exceptional and normal. They don’t compare themselves against another township, they see what more they can squeeze in. They create additional challenges for themselves. They don’t go to the top tier colleges for freedom. See if you can shift your mindset around. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I get to see top apps. </p>
<p>I have no issue with kids graduating early so they can start cc or some nice LAC down the street. You need the next year to clarify your visions for yourself and determine how to move forward and then pursue appropriate goals. You need to dig into colleges’ websites to see how they state and imply their expectations. You need to breathe.</p>