Graduating High School after Junior Year
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Acceptance to college as HS Junior
Dec 2009
My daughter is almost 16 and a sophomore at Berkeley High. She is currently enrolled in Independent Study through BHS and is also taking 2 college level courses; (one at Cal). She is looks and acts very mature and has informed me she would like to graduate one year early. Because she is in independent study, she is able to accelerate and will meet criteria. My question is: Are there Ivy League and highly selective universities who would consider such a student? She has a GPA of 4.2, SAT is 2295, is fluent in French and has been in several leadership roles as well as varsity water polo. Would she be given the same consideration as someone older? I know Columbia considers such students but am not certain if there are others. Can anyone assist with this? She does not want to attend BHS for another 2 years. A concerned mom
I would look into going to prep school for a 'gap year'. My daughter is applying to prep schools as a ninth grader, and I don't have her catalogues. I seem to recall that some schools offer a gap year between HS and college- I'm sure I saw this and was intrigued but dropped it because it wasn't what I needed to know. I'm not sure of which, but it could be worth 1/2 hour of your time checking it out. Try the large East Coast schools: Taft, Hotchkiss, Exeter, Andover, Groton, Rosemary Choate, Lawrence Academy. Good luck. Prep School mom to be
First, you might start by e-mailing one of the BHS College Advisors to ask for their advice. Second, it is definitely a possibility. My son had a friend who was accepted to an outstanding, highly respected college after his junior year because he had advanced through the high school curriculum by taking extra courses summers and taking courses at Cal. However, he was not accepted at the Ivy League school he was most interested in. These days, no matter how bright a student is, it's difficult to be accepted at all the top schools. So it's always a gamble to try to apply a year early, but if the student is outstanding, it is possible. The College Advisor may be able to provide more specific information. Anonymous
Have you considered an alternative to sending your daughter to college a year early? She may be very bright and mature for her age, but for most kids, time to grow up before the independence and stresses of college is usually a good thing.
I too was a young and advanced public high school student. I spent a year between high school and college in France, where I acquired my baccalaureat. Since your daughter is fluent in French, you might consider sending her to a Francophone country, with a good program such as YFU or CIEE. And I was admitted to the Ivy League, if that's important to you...and I'm glad I had the extra year to grow up a bit more...oh, I thought I was grown up at 16/17, but I wasn't. Bonne chance...
Don't know about now as its SO much more competitive but I went to an Ivy after 3 years of high school in the late 70's. HOWEVER, it really would have been better for me to have done a gap year instead of jumping into college. I had JUST turned 17 about two weeks before school began and while academics weren't a problem, I ended up with a 20 year old boyfriend (a junior)and 20-21 year old friends as a very young freshman. After college,I went straight to grad school because at the age of 20, graduating from college I didn't know what else to do OTHER than school. Not the worst ''fate'' but in retrospect what was the hurry to grow up? Staying in high school wouldn't have been a good option for me either (I can relate to your daughter) BUT I wished I'd done a year abroad or volunteering - something that was less intense than the expectation of always being a ''high'' achiever and being ''mature''. anonymous
I did this! I became an exchange student in what would have been my senior year. However, this was obviously an earlier era. The school, with mutual agreement, had me graduate with my normal class, and didn't pester me about funding. OUSD shouldn't be able to control your child in that way, and I wonder if a consult with a lawyer would help. It could be worthwhile - if your child feels ready for the next step of life, s/he should be allowed without penalty. How does OUSD handle exchange student requests? Maybe consider that option - it would be bad publicity if they refused to credit students wanting to study abroad.
If you don’t care about your kid graduating specifically from OUSD, you can transfer your child to your own private school of one student. It is totally legal to establish your own private school. The only trick is you will be responsible for all of the grades, records, and everything else. (There are plenty of resources to help you do this!) You have to fill out a “private school affidavit” form with the state: https://www3.cde.ca.gov/psa
There are lots of homeschooling resources with information about this type of situation. For example, you might contact the Bay Area Gifted Homeschoolers Group, as they have plenty of kids who graduate early, or are “dual enrolled” both high school and college classes: https://www.sfbaghs.org
The homeschooling community in the Bay Area is large and well-developed, and they are typically very helpful with information. You could also maybe transfer your kid to a school system that has a homeschooling arm, like Connecting Waters Charter School out in Waterford Township. (These types of schools require you be residents of their specific county.)
You do have options. You just have to dig around and ask parents who’ve chosen an alternate educational path for their kid/s. They will likely help you out!
You can register as a Private School and graduate your child or, instead of early graduation, keep them "in school" and take community college classes for free. My PSA kids take community college classes online from schools int eh bay area as well as So Cal. Yes, your child will still get into 4y colleges, if that is their goal, from SLACs to UCs and Ivys. Please reach out to the great volunteer run organization HSC for all your questions. They have a great help line! 1-888-HSC-4440 https://www.hsc.org/filing-a-psa
After completing 10th grade your student can take the CHSPE and effectively test-out of high school. No graduation ceremony, but it is the equivalent of high school. My kiddo did this when they were derailed by Covid and zoom.
Everything you need to create your own private school in order to graduate a student early in California is at HSC.org/quickguide and you can also call the phone line to get immediate advice and help at 888-HSC-4440 on how to pull your child and graduate them. No GED/CHSPE (now called CPP) needed, you’ll issue a diploma from your school as the administrator. Depending on future goals, HSC can give advice on the best way to proceed (college, etc). It’s very do-able.
They can finish HS at a community college and get a HS diploma from the college.
What is your goal? To start college early? Take a year off? Just get out of dodge? What are their college goals? -- The answers to those questions will heavily influence your options.
We have friends whose teen went the CHSPE route and then took classes at community college before applying to UC as a transfer student. I have no idea how private colleges look at this, but the UC transfer process for a strong student was straightforward. You can also definitely look at both https://www.connectionsacademy.com/california-online-school/ and the homeschooling resources shared here.
That said, when I read your question my initial thought was that you're not asking the right people the right questions. The graduation requirements listed at https://www.ousd.org/high-school-linked-learning-office/for-students-families/hs-graduation-requirements are pretty unambiguous. You and your child should be able to meet with their guidance counselor and discuss their options for completing those requirements early. I suggest reaching out to their academic counselor and being specific about what you want. "My understanding is that by the conclusion of semester X, my child will have completed the necessary credits for graduation. We would like to understand the process for early graduation." I would include a rundown that shows that you're taking into account not just the total credits but OUSD's a-g requirements as well.
There are a lot of local families in GHA who have their kids in community college classes. Join and learn how to keep you kid engaged. https://www.giftedhomeschoolalliance.org/