Starting Highschool, graduating early?

[Smalltowngorl]

Hey so I’m a freshman. Yes I know very early to be thinking about this kinda stuff. I want to graduate early so I can take premed and college at the same time and then go to medical school right after. The problem is, if I don’t keep my GPA up all the way until to the end of junior year (which is when I’d graduate) while taking AP courses and getting my fine arts in, then getting into a college/premed school will be difficult. I want to experience Highschool but all this talk about graduating, GPA and SCHOLARSHIPS, (oh lord don’t get me started on those) is making me really stressed. Also I heard the admissions committee doesn’t like when college courses are taken during Highschool because it’s basically just “advanced classes” at Highschool level. So how would it look on my application if I graduate early?

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[effectedtag]

While it is tempting to graduate early, my advice is to enjoy your time in high school.

 

[AllBleedingStops]

premed and college at the same time

These are one and the same.

all this talk about graduating, GPA and SCHOLARSHIPS, (oh lord don’t get me started on those) is making me really stressed

You must stop thinking about this stuff. Starting high school is fun, exciting, and stressful all at the same time and you don't need to complicate it further by thinking about scholarships at 14 years old (approx). Work hard in the classes you have and try to have some fun along the way. You are going to burn out if you keep this up.

Also I heard the admissions committee doesn’t like when college courses are taken during Highschool because it’s basically just “advanced classes” at Highschool level.

Didn't matter for me. I had a bunch of AP credit and a bunch of dual (college) credit. It did not negatively impact my application for undergrad. I didn't have to take quite a few gen-ed type things due to AP credit. I still ended up taking a writing class despite having 2 classes worth upon entry. I ended up taking quite a few history and music courses as well and wound up with a couple minors in those subjects. One of the basic bio courses I had credit for, I still took because most schools wanted to see you take it while in college. However, several other things I got credit for in high school counted for medical school pre-reqs. Just do well and only take what you can handle.

So how would it look on my application if I graduate early?

Don't bother. You are depriving yourself of high school experiences if you do this. Plus you will be that much younger than your college peers and it will continue to do you a social disservice there. If you try to graduate early you are going to wind up letting something fall through the cracks - grades, fun, arts, AP/college credit opportunities, scholarship, sports, something - while not getting the benefit of it during undergrad.

 

[Cheezin]

Hey so I’m a freshman. Yes I know very early to be thinking about this kinda stuff. I want to graduate early so I can take premed and college at the same time and then go to medical school right after. The problem is, if I don’t keep my GPA up all the way until to the end of junior year (which is when I’d graduate) while taking AP courses and getting my fine arts in, then getting into a college/premed school will be difficult. I want to experience Highschool but all this talk about graduating, GPA and SCHOLARSHIPS, (oh lord don’t get me started on those) is making me really stressed. Also I heard the admissions committee doesn’t like when college courses are taken during Highschool because it’s basically just “advanced classes” at Highschool level. So how would it look on my application if I graduate early?

A. If you are worrying about keeping your grades up and they have the possibility of dropping below 95 and worrying about AP scores, I don't think you should be worrying graduating early, just get through high school.

B. If you want to get to med school sooner, get a lot of AP credits (very easy to get 4+ and cheaper than college) and go in to college as a sophomore in credits and graduate in 3 years.

C. Work hard in high school and get into a 6 or 7 year BS/MD program if that is your goal. You are still getting into med school early.

D. If you take your SAT /ACT sophomore year and do well and have a good basis, then do well on the PSAT. If you get top 1% (pretty easy, 1480+) then you can get full rides to many decent schools like Alabama, OU, FAU, then you don't have to worry about scholarships.

p.s. DDP is an easy tech class that fulfills your fine arts requirement

* me saying easy is what I think it should be if you are trying to graduate early in order to get into medical school early, you will be competing with people who do find it easy to do so who are also older than you