

For Students at Risk, Early College Proves a Draw - tokenadult
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/education/08school.html

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tokenadult
Maybe college helps because students can start taking themselves more
seriously there than they can in high school.

<http://paulgraham.com/hs.html>

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jcnnghm
Or because it's not as much of a tremendous waste of time. If you're smart and
motivated, you can probably complete the average high-school class in an
afternoon. The whole thing is an exercise in grinding speed-limited to the
slowest kids in the class. If I could go back, I would have dropped out,
gotten a GED, and went to college when I was around 16.

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yardie
...and you would have ended up at community college. HS guidance counselors
and college admission officers get this type of smartass thinking all the time
and the answer never changes. Anyone can take the GED, it proves you aren't a
complete waste of space. Anyone with half a brain can also graduate. What
separates you from all the other mouth breathers is what you did with those 4
years. I, technically, finished highschool in 2 years. I spent the following 2
taking college prep and AP courses.

And that is how you go to college.

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rabidsnail
Many (most?) community colleges have affiliations with proper universities
such that if you're not a complete dud for the two years you spend there
(place in the top 40% or somesuch) you can transfer your credits and do the
last two years at a proper university. I've known several people who have done
this successfully.

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timwiseman
My wife is one of them. For financial and geographic reasons, she started at a
community college then transferred to a proper university after finishing
there. She had to retake one course that wouldn't transfer and a couple of
classes at the community college became electives when they transferred over,
but for the most part she saved a lot of money that way.

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timwiseman
This sentence caught me: _when we all know senior year is a waste,_.

Personally, in my senior year I racked up AP Credits for English and Calculus
that applied to my college and participated in a Constitution Contest where I
both learned a great deal and got a trip to DC that was at least subsidized by
the school (so far the only time I've been to DC).

I may have been able to achieve more by going straight to real college
courses, and I know not all schools offer the opportunities I took advantage
of, but I would hardly say it is self evident that senior year is a waste.

~~~
InclinedPlane
In my junior and senior years of high school I took 6 AP courses (and passed
the associated exams), which translated into about a third of the college
credits I needed to graduate. I entered my University mid-sophomore year and
graduated in the Summer 2 years later. If you're lucky enough to go to a
worthwhile high school, you can definitely get a lot out of senior year if
you're willing to put a lot into it.

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samdk
I'm very happy to see programs like this happening and succeeding. My high-
school offered college-level courses through a few local universities. Those
and the few AP classes my school offered were the only worthwhile classes I
took in high school.

Unfortunately, there weren't enough of them. I had basically run out of
classes to take. I ended up graduating a year early and going to college. (And
now, as a junior, I feel comfortable saying that that's one of the best
decisions I've ever made.)

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albertsun
A widely available option is to dual-enroll in high school and college courses
to take classes at a nearby University when you've exhausted the high school
curriculum.

