<p>For students who are socially mature as well as academically capable, graduating from high school a year early is not necessarily a bad idea. </p>
<p>But this is best done by making plans for it early in high school, working with the guidance counselor. A careful plan has to be made for how to fit all the graduation requirements into three years instead of four. This usually requires some summer school, which is a disadvantage for some people.</p>
<p>The advantage of this approach over the approach suggested by the OP is that it allows the student to enter a four-year college as a freshman and have a typical college experience, rather than entering as a transfer. Also, the student, who should be considered a high school senior in his/her last year of high school, can participate in all the special senior activities, such as prom, and receive the usual guidance on college applications from the school. </p>
<p>About the only disadvantage, academically speaking, is that students who take this route tend to enter college with fewer APs. The more important issues have to do with maturity and social comfort. Many young people are not ready to go away to college a year in advance, and doing it is not always a good experience.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that going to college a year early seems less common now than it was thirty years ago. I’m not sure why. Years ago, both my sister and my best friend did it, and I would have done it, too, except that I was already a year younger than my classmates because I had skipped a grade in elementary school, and I did not want to go to college at 16. But nowadays, completing high school in three years instead of four seems to be an unusual choice. I wonder whether the high schools discourage it.</p>
<p>My daughter did not do senior year of high school. She had a reason (performing arts). She had not completed all the requirements for graduation, either. </p>
<p>She first got her GED (not hard), then, when she felt that employers looked down on the GED a bit, she got a diploma from an online high school (legitimate diploma: she took a couple of online courses so that she satisfied requirements).</p>
<p>Her aid wasn’t affected, because she had not yet done any college classes.</p>
<p>There are many ways to do things.</p>
<p>Also, if you complete a year of college, you automatically qualify for a high school diploma, at least in our state.</p>
<p>One thing to think about: if you get a GED, you may not be welcome back at your high school if you ever want to return to finish there. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. In our state, it is at the principal’s discretion.</p>
<p>Is CC really cheaper than a 4 year school? Have you really done the math? Once you figure in your transportation costs, food, etc. at home plus your costs at the CC, is is really less then going to a 4 year school if you are an above average student or better getting a nice merit award? Probably not. Also, most private schools are not going to take most, if any, of your CC credits, so the $4000/year or so paid to the CC is just money out the window. </p>
<p>Now, many, if not all, states have some kind of dual enrollment option where these classes would be free, but again, most private schools and out of state state schools do not accept these credits so you still need to plan on 4 years in college.</p>
<p>I just priced out the local CC, tuition alone is $6400 for a year, not including any fees. So for 2 years, tuition and fees come to about $14,000, add in a car-even a cheap car, and you are up to $18,000, then gas, etc. over those 2 years and it’s $20,000. The private schools our kids applied to have about $8000/year difference for their automatic merit aid award for students starting as freshmen vs students starting as juniors (transfer). Assuming all credits transfer, which they don’t but lets pretend they do. Transferring into those schools will cost you $16,000 more for junior/senior year then it would cost for those 2 years if you started as a freshman. So is it REALLY less expensive to attend a CC?</p>
<p>OP, do you know what you want to major in and where you want to go to 4 year school. It really matters a lot for anyone considering this path. That would be the first step in my decision making process.</p>
<p>Some colleges offer early admission for talented students who have finished 3 years of high school. Most merit aid is for incoming freshmen, so if you went to CC you could interfere with the possibility of getting merit awards as a transfer.</p>
<p>There’s also the question of maturity and socialization. CC is a collection of people of all ages who commute, also work, and have separate lives while HS allows you to remain with a peer group who share much in common. It’s not all about getting to college, but experiencing life where you are. High school provides other learning besides the curriculum. Personally, I prefer my own kids at 17 to be with their peer group, date people at approximately the same age and have much in common. I prefer their activities be the usual high school things. College, and CC open up a larger world that may be better dealt with at 18 than 17, but that’s just a generalization.
In my area, I think home schoolers are allowed to attend CC at 16, but they also have a peer group through their home school networks with typical teen social events like prom, so they are not missing out. I have known some mature teens who just don’t fit in high school and perhaps that is another option.
You are in private school, and if that is a school that has a dual curriculum or other classes not taught in public school, then you will miss those educational opportunities. Many of them have extra help from the GC in college selection, essay writing classes, and others that you would miss on. The GC’s at your school have a routine in place for senior college applications and that would not be available to you. You can get more personal attention at a private school than at your CC. If things are going well, why interrupt it and if not (unless they are intolerable) it’s best to solve problems not walk from them. Lastly, don’t choose this due to senioritis. That’s temporary and college will be here soon enough.</p>
<p>Wow, you really did poke holes in my perfect plan . No, this is not a course of actionI plan on carrying out, but like you, Jea, I talked to my mom about this at dinner and was thinking about it after.
Honestly, I don’t think that I’m necessarily ready for college, anyway. My grades are good, but not early-enrollment good, and I’d probably not do well socially. (Besides, I’m currently taking Algebra II . ) Pennylane, there are classes I’d miss out on in my private school, and also some college guidance (not great, though).
In all, in a hypothetical scenario, the impression I get is that an extremely intelligent, socially mature, independently wealthy person who doesn’t like high school could pull it off with no adverse effects. And nobody else. Is that right?</p>
<p>My son took outside classes, taking college and online courses, and assembled enough extra credits to graduate in 3 years. It’s certainly doable, but requires a lot of coordination with the guidance counselor.</p>
<p>Afterwards, he took a gap year before starting college. Some people ask, so what was the point of accelerating? The point was that he had some downtime and an opportunity to self-study what he wanted when he wanted without always needing to change gears. He ended up starting a business with his brother that he can now work on from anywhere (web-based); it’s nice to able to create your own part-time job you can do from your dorm room.</p>
. No, this is not a course of actionI plan on carrying out, but like you, Jea, I talked to my mom about this at dinner and was thinking about it after.