Is skipping senior year ever a good idea?

[bluestateguy]

I have a friend whose daughter has been a straight A student for 3 years, and she has taken advanced classes as well (calculus as a junior, for ex.). She scored very well on her SAT and has impressive extracurricular activities and community service on her resume as well. But she is bored with school and just wants to take the GED, work for a year to save up some money for college and then go to college on schedule when she is 18.

What do you think of this idea?

[Withywindle]

1. I did it.

Went to college a year early. I have no regrets - I don't think staying in that school, or that town, for another year would have done me any good. I was really stagnating, and I've never lost a night's sleep over missing the prom.

I don't know if taking a year off is good, though. Some colleges might look askance at that.

[dsc]

2. can't she just take the one or two credits she needs?

I think taking the GED is a very bad idea she should have her diploma if she wishes to attend college but virtually anywhere a student like her would only need a couple or three credits at this point. That is either one semester if she is on block or half days if she isn't. She could work the rest of the year or the rest of the day and get her diploma and save bucks.

[Oregone]

3. Rarely. A better idea is to take a year off or study abroad before college

A little extra maturity can go a long way IMO

Anyway...schools not just about learning from books.

I loved my senior year. Half day schedule. Lots of relaxing, fun, and independent learning. Same with college too. I think I had a lot of personal development in my senior years of both

[izquierdista]

4. Is money that tight?

I just considered my junior year as my senior year, graduated early and went straight to college. College at 17 is not a problem if she is ready for it. The faster pace will take care of the boredom factor and could make her more engaged with learning. It's really an individual choice, and you should be supportive of what she thinks is best.

[grasswire]

5. I have a worse story

A 17-year-old in my family has been allowed to miss her junior year AND will miss her senior year. They said she would be home-schooled but have not done anything about that. She has taken just one distance class online and not finished it. Permissive parenting, bah! I think it's a terrible thing to happen to her. I guess the state would frown on her being out of school but they moved to another state -- no one is keeping track. She sleeps till noon and then watches TV.

She's not dumb, but she doesn't like anyone telling her what to do and just refused to do class work. Good luck with that, kid!

[exboyfil]

6. In Iowa we have the Post Secondary Enrollment Option

A Senior year can look like the first year of college. Calculus II would be paid for by the state. The Senior schedule for many kids includes AP Calculus, AP English Comp and Literature, AP Chemistry and/or Biology, College Physics, College Statistics, College Sociology, AP History, AP Psychology, Even the 4th year of a foreign language can translate into enough knowledge for second year AP/CLEP credit in foregin languages.

I would strongly recommend staying with High School as a Senior and trying to leverage performance into some sort of merit money. The extracuriculars/fine arts like Orchestra, Band, Art, Speech, and even sports are beneficial for making for a more well rounded person.

If she is bored with the advanced classes and has already had them, then she should explore the dual enrollment option (even if the family has to pay).

[SocialistLez]

9. I wish more schools had dual enrollment.

My high school had it but it was not very well advertised.

We also had AP and IB.

The state pays for dual enrollment which is nice. =]

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. Depends on whether a GED will cut it...

...with the places she's looking at, and whether in essays or interviews she can explain coherently why she did what she did.

Some places have higher tolerance for square pegs than others, and one admissions person's red flag is another person's gold star.

If you're aiming at the flagship campus of your state university system, as a in-state student, I don't think there's much to worry about. Other places, maybe not.

[SocialistLez]

8. If she did well on her SAT...does she not qualify for a scholarship?

From the sounds of it, she's a pretty smart girl BUT a lot of people who work to save up money for college rarely go to college.

I would encourage her to apply for a scholarship at a community college.

I received a scholarship to my community college. I was only on the hook for books.
I had a 3.75..3.8 during my two years and earned a transfer scholarship to a four year school. The scholarship covers tuition and fees. I'm only responsible for books.

I say stay in school. I know the senior year sucks.I wanted to drop out so bad but I'm glad I didn't.
A GED does NOT compare to a high school diploma...or at least it doesn't compare to my high school diploma. I worked hard during high school and a GED would not reflect my hard work. I suspect it won't suspect this young girls' hard work.

Some schools have let students attend high school half time and community college the other half, to keep students engaged. I wish more schools allowed this.

[onehandle]

10. That sounds like the perfect candidate for skipping a year. High school is useless to her...

...at this point. I would have Killed to get out of my last year of High School. I was able to skip my last quarter, but if I would have been in my right mind at age 13, I would have made it happen to skip out a full year earlier.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. If it's a real job, not just flipping burgers, it might do her some good.

Personally, I preferred early admission, but that's me. I know in GA accomplished students can skip both junior and senior years and go straight to college. Wish I'd had that option.

[FBaggins]

12. It's no problem as long as you red-shirt your freshman year of college

Oh... you mean academically?

Sure... but it isn't as financially beneficial as other options. Most of the kids at my HS were taking all (or virtually all) college-credit courses in their senior year. That could be anywhere from a semester to an entire year or more of college credits for free. Given the shrinking number of college students who finish in four years, money isn't the only thing saved.

If she's bored with school, there are plenty of options that can challenge her. Many counties have a dual-enrollment option at the local community college. The county usually pays for it, but she has more scheduling flexibility and should be able to work at the same time (making the transition to college that much easier).

[PittsburghKid]

13. Don't Skip It

There are two things that generally happen during senior year. One is the taking of courses that may transfer to college. This could be an AP science course, a prob/stat course, or some sort of social studies course. By eliminating the equivalent courses (usually 100-level) in college with APs/honors that transfer, there's more room for flexibility with electives, which will come in handy when you find some new field you find you like. (A good example would be psychology--usually overlooked in high schools, but popular in college and, at least at my school, a very common minor to add, usually because folks would become fascinated with it). You may also be able to take enough courses to eliminate a semester, sometimes two if you took enough APs as a sophomore and as a junior. I know a guy who got done with college in three years because he took a bunch of APs, enough to wipe out practically every 101 class he needed to graduate.

The other reason senior year is important is for social development. College is filled with pressures, temptations, and other things a 17-year old wouldn't be as equipped to handle as an 18-year old. This comes about from what your parents always preach--life experiences. You'll get these in a better environment during your senior year since you'll still have mom and dad at home as your support system, can see a guidance counselor at your school whom you've known for three years if you have a problem, and will be able to experiences some of the fun that comes with senior year--perhaps parking privileges, senior dinner dances, and of course graduation.

Another reason you may not want to skip is if your GPA is somewhere on the fringe of two financial aid levels at a college. Let's say you have a 3.79 but there's more aid given to students with 3.8s (and you are able to find out about this). You can easily get that 3.8 if you work hard as a senior. Unfortunately, that's the drawback of senior year--senioritis. It's tempting to slack off, and many of us probably will admit to having problems concentrating in class during our final few weeks of school. (If you're smart and your school offers semesters, take the hard courses first semester).

Once you're done, you've gained a full year of maturity, taken some advanced classes to help you in college (not just with material, but also with study skills), and will probably have some great memories of senior year.