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My son (currently a high school junior) just finished applying for early admission (not early decision or early action) to a handful of highly selective colleges. The theory we developed, along with his guidance counselor, is that he has an outside chance of being accepted, in which case he would leave HS this year. Otherwise he would stay for his senior year and apply again a year from now. In other words, he is trying to get a free shot at being admitted to a top school.

I realize this is a bit late, since he has already applied, but does anybody have any advise or would like to share the results of a similar experience? I have doubts regarding the fact he would not graduate (he will have the necessary credits at the end of the year but would be missing a 4th year of English,) and about financial implications, in the sense he would not have a chance at competing for National Merit Scholarships (the results of his PSAT indicate he has a chance of becoming a semifinalist.)

Any thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated.

By Dadster on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 12:23 am: Edit

Getting into the top schools is tough enough for superbly qualified seniors. This strategy is novel, but has the drawbacks which you have mentioned. At this point, I guess the best thing to do is hope he gets lucky. Does the counselor have experience with other students doing the same thing?

By Artie1 (Artie1) on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 08:28 am: Edit

Dadster,

Thanks for the feedback.

I don’t think his counselor has seen other cases like this. She also thought this was a unique approach. There is another student in the High School that is graduating early, but in that case she is actually completing the requirements and will not be back next year. The only other case that we know is a student from a nearby school that got accepted into Stanford after his junior year.

I agree at this point it is a matter of luck. His credentials are strong and comparable to a senior, particularly the courses he has taken (a key consideration in attempting this is because there are not more science or math courses for him to take next year,) but that extra year may make the difference. Again, thanks for the advice…

By Dadster on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 08:53 pm: Edit

Artie, let us know how this turns out. Graduating early is relatively common compared to seeking college admission without completing HS graduation requirements. I hope it works out well for your son!

By mandogirl on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 09:33 pm: Edit

My daughter is a sophmore and considering early entrance also. Her high school is small (300 students) and she is academically gifted. I worry somewhat about whether she will be mature enough to handle the social and emotional aspects of going to college a year early. We are just starting this process. She seems excited and a little bit stressed out by it all. Let us know how it goes for you.

By Shennie (Shennie) on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 01:57 pm: Edit

I think that you can still qualify for NM even if you graduate early. He already took the PSAT so if his score qualifies him as a finalist he should just make sure all the paper work gets filed and he can get the award and the money. But it won't be retroactive til his first year of college.

By Rachael on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 05:35 pm: Edit

AS a student, I personally would not take this approach for a couple of reasons:

I would rather get a feew extra classes in, which may help in the college application process, I would want to graduate with the rest of my friends too. Also, if he takes extra classes, he can do something he really enjoys.

Just my opinion.

By Dadster on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 06:41 pm: Edit

Being younger in college can be somewhat limiting from a social and EC standpoint. That's not always true - a lot depends on the kid - but it's something to consider.

By Artie 1 on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 12:17 pm: Edit

Hello,

I am happy to see the discussion restarted. I generated the original post.

Mandogirl: I understand your concern. We have been keeping an eye on that aspect. One of the reasons we agreed to have our son apply early is because he is among the oldest in his class. In reality he is only 6 months or so younger than many seniors. The other things that make us feel comfortable is that since seventh grade he has been taking classes with students that are up to three years older than him. In reality he was probably more comfortable, and had more friends among last years graduating class, than current juniors.

Has your daughter been in classes with older students? That may help you detemine how ready she is. I will be happy to share more of our experience and let you know how this goes.

Rachael: Thanks for your input. I really appreciate another student's view. We tried to steer him in the direction your propose but he is really set on trying this out. In the end, if he does not get accepted, he will follow this path, perhaps going to a local college for enrichment classes.

By Rachael on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 07:26 pm: Edit

no problem, i hope your son succeeds in whatever his actions take him.

By Artie1 (Artie1) on Friday, March 21, 2003 - 04:27 pm: Edit

Dadster,

Since you asked back in January (and frankly because I could not resist the opportunity to brag) I wanted to let you know that the idea of leaving high school without graduation - but only for a highly selective school - worked for my son. He got a letter of acceptance from MIT earlier in the week. His acceptance is not contingent upon graduation, but we are now trying to figure out a way for him to complete the missing requirement (an English class.) I am also trying to recover from the sticker shock!

By Marcie (Marcie) on Saturday, March 22, 2003 - 12:34 am: Edit

Artie 1, Congratulations on your son's admission to MIT. I have a suggestion for him for his missing English class. My daughter used this internet program last summer because she had to take junior English outside of high school due to scheduling conflict. The program is called Internet Academy, run by the Federal Way, Washington, School District (suburb of Seattle). The web site is
www.iacademy.org
They use certified teachers and since it was through a public school district program, our school accepted the class easily. In fact, our counseling office recommended the program.

It was just a wonderful experience; I highly recommend it. It is all done by e-mail, although you call the office to set things up at the beginning. My daughter loved it because she could go at her own pace, work in the middle of the night, didn't have to put up with any other students as in summer school. She had a fine teacher and I think she did as much writing as in a regular English class (not honors or AP, though). They don't have a Senior English class as such, but there is Shakespeare, World Literature, and Creative Writing. Summer class registration starts May 19. Everyone that we dealt with was very nice and professional and it actually cost less than our local high school summer school. Hope this might help your son.

By Artie1 (Artie1) on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 05:49 am: Edit

Marcie,

Thanks for the well wishes for my son. The information on the Internet Academy appears to be exactly what we are looking for! I will run this by him to see how could we work this into his schedule during the summer or afterwards. I will also run this by the school. So far they have been very cooperative. I know they give credit for courses taken over the summer at local private academies. Their only concern appears to be the number of hours of instruction and the Internet Academy appears may meet that.

Artie1

By Sallyr (Sallyr) on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 08:00 am: Edit

If the Internet Academy does not work out, have you spoken to your son's counselor about using an MIT frosh English course to fulfill the high school requirement? Often in these cases, a student takes the missing class during the first semester (or even second) in college and then attends the graduation ceremony with his original high school class when he returns home in the late spring.

While it may seem daunting to launch your son into the world with no sheepskin framed on his wall, sending a child off to college is daunting enough anyway, so this one particular problem--albeit something of a biggie--might just get lost in the shuffle!

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 06:34 pm: Edit

A lot of colleges offer distance learning for both high school and introductory college courses. You can get a high school diploma, or just complete a single course requirement you need for graduation from your own school. Your son can work at his own pace and mail or email his assignments in. Talk to you son's high school about what they will accept if he wants to complete their requirements for graduation. Here's a link to U. of Texas's distance learning for high school and college courses (anyone can enroll).
http://www.utexas.edu/cee/dec/

By Artie1 (Artie1) on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - 02:26 pm: Edit

Sallyr, Texas137:

Many thanks for the additional pointers. My son has a meeting with his guidance councelor later in the week. I will ask him to mention these two options witin the meeting.

By Mobee4 (Mobee4) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 11:34 pm: Edit

mandogirl, i am also a high school sophomore who is considering graduating early. It has been suggested to me by some of my teachers that I could stay at home and go to a local college for a year and then transfer to another college. That way I could begin classes for college without having to go away. I have just started talking to my guidance counselor about this so I dont really know the negative side of doing this. I hope this helps.