<p>I'd just like to preface with the fact that I'm a high school junior who plans on becoming a high school senior and graduating in 2014. This is just something that came up at the dinner table last night that really intrigued me.
(Also, just btw, this is here because a) I had no idea where to put it and b) I wanted experienced adults to tear this apart before I get any ideas.)
What would be a problem with a student quitting high school after eleventh grade with a GED and three APs (in my situation) and going to community college, after which he/she could transfer to a regular college just the same as if he/she had graduated?
Pros:
- Community college is cheaper than regular college (and, like my mom pointed out, is probably cheaper than my private school :) ).
- Transfer colleges will not know or care whether the student has graduated or not.
- College degrees are obtained a year (possibly less, depending on APs taken previously) early and at a fraction of the cost.
- There is still time to work during college, and there is no need to sacrifice on the college experience because the student will end up transferring to a four year college.
- Much of the GED curriculum is covered in high school bu eleventh grade, and what isn't can be learned at home.</p>
<p>So, parents of CollegeConfidential, why is this a bad idea?</p>
<p>I’m a senior in HS, but I’ve tutored people on the GED and I can say that if you’re taking 3 AP’s, you could probably get it whenever you want. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>I think you limit yourself by going this route. Not all 4 year schools or programs accept transfers. And sometimes the scholarship aid is not near as good for a transfer as it would be for a freshman. You’re obviously a bright person, you are a junior with 3 AP classes. If your SAT scores are high and your ranking is good, it is possible you could get a full ride somewhere. You’ve come this far - you should go the distance and actually graduate. A GED is not really “equivalent”, even though it has that word in it.</p>
<p>If a student has exhausted the curriculum and has all the graduation requirement fulfilled there is no reason not to fill out the year with college level courses of the person is fortunate enough to live within driving distance of a college. There is no need to get a GED usually. Generally it just needs to be worked out with the high school. My friend’s D who was already a year younger than her class rarely stepped foot in her high school her senior year and took college classes at a nearby university. She then entered her desired college with more than a freshman year’s worth of credit if you included the AP classes from junior year. Sometimes there is less financial aid for transfer students so if it’s a year at a local college it’s a good idea to put the financial pencil to paper before assuming it’s “cheaper” but there are many ways to fill a senior year and still achieve a diploma instead of a GED.</p>
<p>Like I mentioned, I will NOT be doing this. I will be graduating and going to a four year college. This was just something interesting I was thinking about.
magykmancer: Just out of curiosity, what is actually on the GED? anything that wouldn’t be covered in 9th-11th?
cromette: Why isn’t a GED equivalent if 97% of colleges accept it? Are GED applicants considered lower on the desirability scale?
motb: Unfortunately, I can’t dual enroll (even though I’d love to- my mom did, and she graduated college with an AA and was halfway through her MBA with a high-level job at 23, while some of her high school classmates were still in undergrad). My school is very against dual enrollment and it’s virtually impossible with my schedule. The only thing I could theoretically do is night school (no time) or summer school (I’ve actually been considering taking a CC creative writing class in the summer, but there’s a difference to me between creative writing and calc). It’s really not a good situation, but there’s not much I can do about it. What I’m doing now is getting as many APs as I can in order to maybe knock off a year of college.</p>
<p>Grammar, an essay, social studies (American history, world history, civics and government, economics, and geography), science (life science, earth science, space science, and physical science), reading, and math. So kinda the ACT and SAT combined. If your school/classes are like mine, you’ve already taken or are taking classes that teach you all of those things.</p>
<p>Hannah: OK, I was just looking at your reason “b” “I wanted experienced adults to tear this apart before I get any ideas.”</p>
<p>and I figured this was an idea you were at least entertaining.</p>
<p>A GED is NOT considered the same as graduating from your high school with a diploma, AP courses, a stellar gpa and a high rank, either by major universities or even by the military. Yes, an AA degree wipes most of that stigma away - but as I said, some programs don’t take transfer students - and some major university adcoms may wonder, “What happened here? Why the GED? She was doing so well? Why didn’t she just finish strong?”</p>
<p>The GED actually is considered to be harder than a diploma from a high school that practices social promotion and doesn’t teach much anyway. To get a diploma like that, you just need to go to school often enough and do enough work to pass. Unless the state or the school has an exit exam, you don’t need to prove that you know anything. To get a GED you need to know enough to pass tests in every section; I think there are four or five. If you pass a few but not all, you keep taking the other sections until you’ve passed them. (You keep the credit for the ones you’ve passed, though.) Apparently math is the big obstacle, even though it isn’t particularly advanced by the standards of your school.</p>
<p>I actually considered this strategy in my senior year of high school, because I was bored and had exhausted the limited options. I found out that I needed to be 18 in Pennsylvania to register for the GED; I was two years too young. In those days we didn’t have online options or chances to take courses at local colleges.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that you could stay in your current high school without taking the whole program. If your parents wanted to save the money, they’d have to move you to a public school and go from there.</p>
<p>cromette: I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be tempted, and that one day in 12th grade when I’m sitting through some boring class I wouldn’t suddenly think, “Why didn’t I just get that GED I was thinking about last year?”
That makes sense, but I was under the impression that transfer colleges don’t see high school grades- is this wrong? If not, how can they tell the difference?
LoremIpsum: I live in New York, which means I can legally take it in 10 days (when I’m sixteen, which is also when I can become the terror of the roads ).</p>
<p>Wordworker: Private school is a given for me right now, and while they might disapprove of my leaving I don’t think they could actually do anything about it besides growl (and also not accept my sister for ninth grade, which is something to think about).</p>
<p>All state universities in my state require two yrs of a foreign language to apply.
High school graduation requirements do not include foreign language.
So you couldn’t apply to a university unless you had two years of the same language.</p>
<p>Yea, emeraldkity, it’s getting post orders wrong again. She can take the required foreign language in junior college. She was talking about getting the ged and doing junior college and then university.</p>
<p>It could severely limit your aid at colleges, if you’re a high-need student. Transfers generally get the low end of the deals. </p>
<p>There are special early colleges but I don’t know much about them. I think they’re for if you exhaust your curriculum in high school. There was a young teenager at my high school (I think he was 14/15 when he graduated) who went to one of those because he just didn’t want to go to “real” college right away.</p>
<p>"A GED is NOT considered the same as graduating from your high school with a diploma, AP courses, a stellar gpa and a high rank, either by major universities or even by the military. Yes, an AA degree wipes most of that stigma away - but as I said, some programs don’t take transfer students - and some major university adcoms may wonder, “What happened here? Why the GED? She was doing so well? Why didn’t she just finish strong”</p>
<p>There’s a poster on here who had a GED and wound up at Harvard for both u grad and grad.</p>
<p>This topic came up at the dinner table recently. Last year, there were several juniors who had completed their high school requirements and graduated with the senior class. </p>
<p>My son’s reaction: “Why wouldn’t everyone do that?”<br>
My daughter’s reaction: “Why would anyone want to do that?” </p>
<p>To my son, the idea of finishing high school quickly and getting a head start on college/career was appealing. My daughter, however, saw it as missing out on everything she loved about high school… her sports & extracurriculars, football games, homecoming, prom, senior trip, and the special bonding with classmates that takes place senior year. </p>
<p>Financial issues and college acceptance prospects aside, I think it’s more of a personal choice. For someone who doesn’t enjoy high school, it makes sense to finish quickly and move forward. For someone who really loves it, it makes sense to enjoy it for as long as you can, because that’s one thing you can’t go back and do again.</p>
<p>There are a number of great colleges (Wellesley, CMU, etc) that will accept 11th graders whether or not they graduated. For some this is appealing. For others, 12th grade has something to offer. I don’t think it’s all one or the other, but more a personal choice after weighing all of the factors. If there is nothing to be gained educationally from 12th grade because you’ve topped out in most subjects, and don’t have particular emotional bonds to being a senior and all that entails, then by all means, it makes sense to consider early college. However, for many others, it’s a year that can be filled with challenging AP courses that are free except for the exams that can save a years worth of college tuition. Still for most, I think they aren’t ready for college and there is a lot to be gained from senior year classes. Finally, senior year is a lot of fun for a lot of people, and living in the present is a perfectly respectable endeavor.</p>
<p>I don’t know if students do this much anymore but 30+ years ago, I graduated a semester early and began college in the Spring quarter. I had completed the number of credits my HS required to graduate. </p>
<p>Back then, we went to summer school to get ahead though now I think public summer school is mostly remedial. But there are online HS courses a student can now take so perhaps if staying for the entire 12 th grade is unappealing, a student might be able to graduate early.</p>
<p>I had a year’s worth of credit when I went college, was accepted into my chosen professional major sooner than most and found myself the youngest in my class. I made it but suddenly competing with older students and socializing with them (some even married by then) was a challenge that I hadn’t really expected.<br>
A friend of mine (same age) was a year ahead of me (she did dual credit in HS). She floundered in college mainly because she suddenly found herself as a Junior in college with no real direction and no time to take all those “exploratory” classes.</p>
