I am currently a sophomore in high school, and I am seriously considering graduating at the end of my ‘junior’ year. I am number one in my class (of about 200), and I am very ahead of my classes. I have heard rumors that graduating a year early can discourage colleges from offering scholarships (I am from a very low-income family and the only way I can go to college is by getting scholarships). I can fairly easily graduate next year with all of the AP classes available, and completing all of my required credits. I am just concerned that it will affect my chances of receiving scholarships and being admitted into some of the bigger name schools (I am very interested in Ivy League/MIT and a few others). If anyone has any extra information on my issue, I’d love some assistance.
P.S: I am interested in majoring in engineering, aeronautics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the like; if that will change anyone’s response.
Dear gabigrl23,
I’m just wondering how this worked out for you. Did you graduate and go ahead and get into college? How did it affect you getting into the schools that you wanted? Thanks for the info.
GreekMana, she’s going into her junior year. She wouldn’t know if she got into colleges yet, even if she chose to graduate. I’d imagine that the main reason graduating early would impact scholarships/admissions would be that there may be less rigorous courses offered for sophomores (these are the courses schools would see if you graduated early), and less time in school may (or may not) result in lower test scores. It would also reduce the amount of time that the student would have to commit to ECs.
For anyone out there in this same dilemma I thought I would post our experience. My son graduated one year early from high school. He was very advanced and would have ran out of high level classes to take in his senior year. He also took college classes every summer. There is a place on the Common App where you have to explain why you are graduating early. Give a lot of thought to how you write that! If your SAT/ACT scores and GPA are where you want them to be then you should be fine with getting accepted into college. I don’t believe that being young ended up being a negative on my son’s applications. In fact in one case I think it was a plus since he was a finalist for a very prestigious merit scholarship that focused on a student’s future potential. He was also a Regent Scholar for our in-state flag ship school. He did not get into all of the schools where he applied, but he has choices from great state schools to an Ivy League to excellent options in between. So in certain cases graduating early is fine. It’s definitely not for every kid, but if you are the kind of student who can pull this off, you probably have known it for a long time. It’s not just something that strikes you at the beginning of your Junior year and you think, I’m ready to be done with HS! Another option for less intense kids is graduating early and then take a gap year. So for the very few of you out there questioning this, YES, it can be done!
I don’t think you will be at a disadvantage because you are graduating a year early. That isn’t so uncommon, actually. Greekmana’s advice is good and take note. Be aware that you are not going to be given any special treatment either for the early move. And that a lot of your competition is going to have had that extra year to show what they could do and they are older and have that possibility of being more mature.
But if that is your best option, go right on ahead. If you don’t like the outcome, take a gap year and try it again. One thing you have over others is that extra time.