Of course, it takes some work -- and summer vacation might be sacrificed, but the reward of being done with high school a little earlier makes that extra work worth it for some. In light of that, here are five steps to take when exploring early graduation options, according to the website PrepScholar.
This is the simplest step, and usually, there is one main option. But just in case there are options for earlier graduation, talk with a counselor or an adviser. At this point, it will get a little more complicated. Administered by the College Board — the same organization behind the SAT — CLEP exams count toward English, math, science, and other general education requirements at nearly 3, colleges.
By passing one test, you can receive up to three college credits. Most colleges also require incoming students to take a foreign-language placement test to gauge their fluency in a language other than English.
If you studied a foreign language throughout high school and maybe middle school , you may already meet your college's foreign-language requirement and therefore not need to take any further language classes.
Taking a full course load all year with summers off means graduating in about four years. It's important to keep your grades from suffering, so try to spread out your course load as much as possible, with night classes and summer courses.
Most colleges limit the number of credits students can take per term to 15, 18, or 20 credits, depending on the school and whether it uses the quarter or semester system. In some cases, colleges will make special exceptions. Just keep in mind that some colleges charge extra fees for taking additional credits.
Graduating early means spending less money earning a degree and more time earning a living. The year you shave off college becomes your first year on the job. Not only do you receive an extra year of wages, but you also potentially fast-track promotions and higher wages.
While students who took four years or more to finish college are just entering the job market, the early graduate is hitting their second or third year in their field — and likely already seeking a new role and a bigger paycheck. While students who took four years or more to finish college are just entering the job market, the early graduate is hitting their second or third year in their field. That said, higher education isn't just about the career you get out of it.
The college experience includes conversations, exploration, and detours, but a student on a three-year timeline might feel too crunched to take advantage of these opportunities. Ultimately, a college education is intended to develop well-rounded individuals, and well-roundedness takes time to develop. Leaving college early means less time to get to know your professors, build a college circle, and participate in the extracurriculars that make college the unique experience it is.
After you've filled in required classes and if you have extra space , start adding other classes you'd like to take or would be helpful for you to get into college. Once all the spaces on your schedule have been filled in, add up all the credits you will have completed.
Have you met the minimum requirement for your school? If not, how many classes will you need to take to meet it? After, look at what classes are left over on your list. Are there any required classes you weren't able to fit? Any classes you don't have to take but would like to? If you need to take either additional credits or classes, start thinking of ways you can fit them in outside of the normal school day. Some options include summer classes , taking classes at a nearby community college or university , or taking online classes.
For each of these options, discuss it with your advisor before you enroll to ensure you'll get the required credit s you need. Once you've figured out how you'll take each of these extra classes, add the information to your schedule.
In this example, the student would be able to graduate a semester early while having a course load that would be considered strong at many colleges. This student is planning on majoring in biology, so she wanted to maximize her math and science classes. Her junior-year schedule was pretty normal with the exception of taking two science classes physics and AP Biology at the same time.
Taking two classes in one subject is something you'll likely have to do if you want to graduate early. She realized that she wouldn't be able to fit in calculus normally, so she chose to take it over the summer. For her final semester, she took two English classes at the same time, took both a math elective and a science elective to get more experience in those subjects, and completed the rest of her required classes. Assuming she had a regular schedule her previous semesters, she would have completed four and a half years of science, four and a half years of math, four years of English, three years of social studies, three years of a foreign language, and all her other required classes.
Completing those classes would be good enough for most colleges, though some highly selective schools would require four years of both social studies and a foreign language. Notice that she had a lot of different options when creating her schedule —she could have dropped her foreign language and taken a different course, chosen to take two math electives her senior year instead of calculus over the summer, and considered a variety of other options.
Also, be aware that her junior year would probably be pretty challenging with her full course load that includes two science classes. Keep all these things in mind when creating your own high school class schedule. Once you've finished designing your schedule, double-check it to make sure that all the school graduation requirements are met. Congratulations—you now have a plan for graduating high school early! If you haven't before now, share your plan with your advisor and ask whether there are any additional steps you should take.
You now know how to graduate high school early, but just because you can doesn't automatically mean that you should. Read on to learn the three potential drawbacks you might face should you choose to graduate early. As you saw above, graduating high school early takes a lot of planning and might mean you have to take extra classes during the school year and summer.
Balancing this heavier course load can be stressful and tiring, and that's something you should consider before you commit to graduating early. Another potential drawback to graduating high school early is that you might miss out on special high school events.
For many high school students, senior year is their favorite year because of popular activities like homecoming and prom. If you graduate early, you might not be able to participate in these events. Additionally, you might not attend a graduation ceremony, which is an important experience for many students.
Before you decide to graduate early, think about how you'll feel if you see all your friends participating in events such as sports games, school dances, and senior days while you don't. For some people, this isn't important at all—but for others, they'd regret missing out on these once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Lastly, don't try to graduate high school early to impress colleges. Just by itself, finishing high school in a shorter amount of time won't give your college applications a boost.
In fact, if graduating high school early means you have fewer classes in core subjects, it could even hurt your chances of admission! Unless you have plans to spend your time at a great internship or another exciting opportunity that will really show colleges who you are and what your skills are, colleges won't see graduating high school early as a sign of increased intelligence or motivation. Don't expect colleges to be automatically impressed that you graduated early.
The main way to decide this is to think about what you'll do during the time you'd normally be in high school. If you have a great opportunity you'd like to take advantage of, such as an internship, a travel experience, college classes, or something similar, graduating high school might be a good idea. However, if you plan to spend your time mostly watching TV or maybe working a few hours a week, it's probably in your best interest to graduate when you normally would.
Next, go through all the steps above. Is it possible for you to graduate early while also taking all the classes you need to and would like to without stretching yourself too thin? If you've found answers to both of the above considerations, graduating high school early might be something for you to start planning. Thinking about summer school as a way to complete some of your graduation requirements?
Check out our complete guide to summer school to learn whether it's a good option for you. Do you think you go to a bad high school? Learn what your options are if you aren't happy with your current school. Taking an independent study can be a great way to fulfill some of your graduation requirements. Learn how to take an independent study class with our expert guide. What's the benefit to graduating high school early vs dropping out?
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