But for some students, it is possible to finish all of the requirements for a diploma and graduate early. If you can graduate early, is this the right choice for you? Graduating early means more than just leaving high school. Often, it can also mean the beginning of adult responsibilities, as many students who choose this route end up either going straight into college or using what would be their final semester of high school to begin working and saving money for college.
In fact, with enough credits, you can start off college as a sophomore! You may end up just as well graduating college at the same rate as if you would have stayed the extra year in high school to graduate college early.
In fact, colleges look at students who either graduated in three years or four years the same way. If you graduate early, you end up with the same diploma as you would have by graduating in four years.
Your transcript will also look similar, the only difference being that it will not have as many semesters listed than the traditional high school transcript. Your brain is going through some significant changes during your teenage years. The high school environment allows your brain to develop this way, making the transition to college a little bit easier. However, if you graduate high school a year earlier, you may not have enough time to mature mentally and emotionally to handle the mental and emotional demands and stresses that college can bring.
Still having trouble deciding whether or not you should pursue early graduation? Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:.
Make sure you start early, ideally during your first semester of high school in your freshman year. Talk to your guidance counselor or academic advisor about early graduation and the requirements needed to be eligible. Your advisor will be able to give you and your parent or guardian the information you need, in addition to assisting in making your class schedule each semester so that it is optimal to stay on track for early graduation.
Do you want to graduate a semester early or a year earlier? Do they limit students to only graduate early by a semester, or can you graduate much earlier?
From there, decide how soon you want to graduate. Also, think about the workload involved in trying to graduate early by a semester versus a year. Your counselor or advisor will also be able to tell you how many credits you will need to have to receive a high school diploma. You will most likely need to take extra courses in some semesters to fulfill all of the credit requirements.
The result could be undue stress that affects your life both inside and outside of school. If your school does not allow you to add extra classes to your default schedule, consider looking into local community colleges or online programs that may offer classes that you can take for additional credit.
Some diplomas require that you take certain classes to receive it. Your counselor or advisor can help you figure out which classes are necessary to graduate early in addition to which classes that can be applied as college credit. Any of these reasons can be the right reason to graduate early , but you want to make sure you think through your motivation thoroughly. Is there something going on in your personal life that it is making it hard for you to properly focus on school?
For example, have you been ill, or dealing with a family issue? If so, graduating early might be the right option. Keep in mind, however, that there may be other solutions, such as talking to a school counselor or taking fewer classes.
Are you graduating early to get a jump start on college courses or to take advantage of an internship opportunity? Sometimes high school students decide to take a required course at a community college, for example, or start volunteering somewhere aligned with their academic field of choice. Obviously the benefits and risks of graduating early will be different for everyone, depending on your lifestyle and plans. To start with, it is important to keep in mind that this option is intended for the most talented students who have taken advantage of everything their high school offers.
You should have advanced to the AP, IB, or honors levels in all of your major subjects and excelled in them. In fact, some high schools may allow you to use these courses as prerequisites or in place of requirements. Whether or not you are able to graduate early also depends on your high school.
Some schools may not allow it, and even if they do, they need to review your individual case to make sure you are a qualified candidate. You will need to fulfill all your requirements for graduation in a truncated time frame, which may require some advance planning. If you come up short meeting your requirements and have enough time to compensate, you might try summer school or other courses outside your high school. Your school may also have additional requirements that you need to meet; again, this varies by high school.
If you are an advanced and especially mature student, a college environment may be more intellectually stimulating, and could offer challenges you may not be able to find in high school.
And if you have already exhausted the resources your high school and community college have to offer, graduating early may open up some more interesting opportunities. You may have other motivations for graduating early, such as problems at home or in school, which might make leaving for college seem more attractive.
Graduating early may have some downsides, too.
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