Early College High Schools are schools meant to give high school students college credit. Some even promise that students will have their Associates Degrees by the time they’ve completed their Junior year. While programs like these are beneficial to plenty of students, they’re not perfectly suited for everybody. Here is the good and the bad of going to an early college high school program.
The Bad
- It’s Incredibly Stressful
In schools like these you are taking high school and college classes AT THE SAME TIME and that is no small feet. It’s a lot of work. Not only are you taking one double the amount of work than a regular high school student would, but you also have to meet college level expectations. High school level work doesn’t cut it here. You have to work twice as hard and twice as fast as everybody else.
- It’s Very Competitive
I went to school with people who were just as smart and self disciplined as I was and we all wanted very similar things. In early college high schools, you quickly learn that you are no longer the smartest kid in your class. It’s all smiles until your class ranks are brought up. It’s every person for themselves in early college high schools.
- You are often the youngest person in your classes
Once you reach college, you start ahead and with more credits than a lot of other people your own age. This means that you get to take upper level classes right out the gate, and that also means that nearly everyone in those classes will be much older than you. This isn’t the absolute worst thing that can happen, but it can be a bit awkward at times. The people have more life experience than you do and that can be pretty intimidating. They all seem to already know one another and you feel like you’ve missed out on a lot. You kind of become the odd one out in situations like this.
- The fun in college is cut short
Having and Associates degree when you’re seventeen means that you don’t need to spend a lot of time in college when you get out of high school. Congratulations! You get to graduate early. What I soon realized was that living at a university and completely immersing yourself in the college experience is really fun and that I didn’t really want my time here to be cut short. I know that I’m probably graduate before a lot of the friends that I’ve made here and I move on with my life a quicker than they have to.
The Good
- You save A LOT of money
It’s no surprise that college is super expensive. Plenty of us struggle over how we’re going to pay for it. The good thing about early college high schools is that you get two years of college completely free. I even had my textbooks paid for as well as transportation and lunch. It is nice that I got to not pay for two full years of college. Sometimes there are even exclusive scholarships available for early college students for when they graduate high school.
- You attend high school with like-minded people
My high school had students submit applications and you were accepted if they thought that you would thrive with this kind of environment. For me that meant that I got to go to school with people who had the same mindset that I did. We were all driven and got along pretty well for the most part. It was like all the nerds had been placed into one school and it was great for me. I actually fit in with my peers, something that I think would not have happened if I had gone to a regular high school. I know that this kind of high school experience is rare and I was very lucky to have it.
- It’s Really Impressive
The fact that you get 60 credit hours by your junior year of high school is a big deal and many people recognize that. It really impresses professors and other students sometimes when they find out how much you’ve gotten done already. Don’t brag too much, but also don’t be afraid to acknowledge the place that you’re in because you worked incredibly hard for it. People should be impressed, you’ve earned it!
- You kind of already know how college works
Once you do graduate from high school and head off to a university, you probably won’t struggle as much as your peers who are the same age. You have done this kind of thing before after all. You know the struggles of finals and long essays so you know how to better handle them. Granted, you’re not gonna know how to deal with everything and there will be plenty of things that you will learn about the hard way, but you don’t have go into college completely blind.
I personally know that I wouldn’t trade my early college experience for the world, but I also know that it’s not for everyone. So if you are thinking about attending an early college or you know someone who is, maybe take some of these things into account and see if you think it’s worth it.