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I did this. Let me tell you my experience. I grew up in the outskirts of LA where there is a mix of farmland and people willing to drive a long way into LA.

I did this. Let me tell you my experience. I grew up in the outskirts of LA where there is a mix of farmland and people willing to drive a long way into LA. My family moved there because of the military and i had previously been in a "good" school, but this area was more than 50% the children of farm workers and they had really been screwed by fate. Most didn't speak English and the school system was constantly struggling to get them to learn enough English so they could understand the other subjects. Anyway, by junior high, I had worked out a deal with my school that I could take some classes at the local community college and not take them at junior high. So rather than take Algebra I or whatever I would take a math class at the college. Well... by the end of 8th grade I had taken the first two calculus semesters. When transferring to college I should have gone to one of two particularly bad high schools and it make things worse, the high schools were not going to allow me to take any college classes. I would start in high school at algebra II. So I dropped out. At the time in California, you were able to select a community college as your high school. This is sadly no longer the case. I took all the classes I needed to fill in my general education requirements and took STEM classes I would need to transfer to a CSU or UC school. I didn't take things too seriously. I took whatever classes looked interesting including SCUBA, TV production and some music classes. I finished with everything needed to transfer at 16 and transferred to Calpoly. I finished with my BS in Chemistry at 19. Took a year off because I didn't know what I wanted to do. Worked at a winery as an analytical chemist which was loads of fun. After a year there, I decided I needed a PhD if I wanted to do research and did that at Caltech. Personally, I believe this worked out fine for me. The people at the community college especially in STEM classes were great. I had and made friends along the way. Going to high school would have been a step down and a step back for me, but I don't think skipping high school is for everyone.

commandlinefan 5y ago
Did essentially the same thing - started community college during 8th grade, got enough credits to transfer, and opted out of high school entirely. I always wonder if it really was a good decision overall, though - I wonder if maybe I had gone the “traditional” route if I might have gone to a better four-year school and had a higher GPA. All in all, I’ve done OK, but I always wonder. Edit: so it would appear that neither of us actually read the article before commenting…
OneEyedRobot 5y ago
>At the time in California, you were able to select a community college as your high school. Seriously, that's brilliant. Was there some local school apparatchik that made sure that your course picks were reasonable?
- jhart99 5y ago
  By selecting the community college, I was just like any other student. I just had a regular counselor who made sure that I was picking at least 12 units that went toward my different GE categories or toward my intended major(originally EE, but switched to chemistry). Otherwise I was free to choose anything I wanted and did choose a lot of classes that didn't exactly fit with my plan, but were interesting to me.
  - OneEyedRobot 5y ago
    I just think that's such a clever idea. It doesn't take a genius to go to JC when you're 15 years old and a lot of high school bullshit disappears. It's the sort of system that works only so long as not too many people use it. If a junior college was 1/2 high school aged students, it would become, well, high school (to the cost of the other students).
    - jhart99 5y ago
      I totally understand that sentiment. I agree people don't need to be particularly smart to do it too. I started with math classes that would normally be considered remedial and it was amazing. It let me zoom through what would be normal high school level math in about a year. But too many people doing it would just turn it into High School 2.0 or worse if it turned into another competition among the smart high school kids.
jbboehr 5y ago
> At the time in California, you were able to select a community college as your high school. I mean, at this point why not just take the GED or CHSPE and go straight to community college?
- jhart99 5y ago
  You can't take a GED in California until you are 18. I didn't bother getting one until the pandemic because it mostly doesn't matter. I just finally went and did the tests so that I wouldn't have an awkward blank spot on certain funding applications.

commandlinefan 5y ago

Did essentially the same thing - started community college during 8th grade, got enough credits to transfer, and opted out of high school entirely. I always wonder if it really was a good decision overall, though - I wonder if maybe I had gone the “traditional” route if I might have gone to a better four-year school and had a higher GPA. All in all, I’ve done OK, but I always wonder. Edit: so it would appear that neither of us actually read the article before commenting…

OneEyedRobot 5y ago

>At the time in California, you were able to select a community college as your high school. Seriously, that's brilliant. Was there some local school apparatchik that made sure that your course picks were reasonable?

jhart99 5y ago
By selecting the community college, I was just like any other student. I just had a regular counselor who made sure that I was picking at least 12 units that went toward my different GE categories or toward my intended major(originally EE, but switched to chemistry). Otherwise I was free to choose anything I wanted and did choose a lot of classes that didn't exactly fit with my plan, but were interesting to me.
- OneEyedRobot 5y ago
  I just think that's such a clever idea. It doesn't take a genius to go to JC when you're 15 years old and a lot of high school bullshit disappears. It's the sort of system that works only so long as not too many people use it. If a junior college was 1/2 high school aged students, it would become, well, high school (to the cost of the other students).
  - jhart99 5y ago
    I totally understand that sentiment. I agree people don't need to be particularly smart to do it too. I started with math classes that would normally be considered remedial and it was amazing. It let me zoom through what would be normal high school level math in about a year. But too many people doing it would just turn it into High School 2.0 or worse if it turned into another competition among the smart high school kids.

jbboehr 5y ago

> At the time in California, you were able to select a community college as your high school. I mean, at this point why not just take the GED or CHSPE and go straight to community college?

jhart99 5y ago
You can't take a GED in California until you are 18. I didn't bother getting one until the pandemic because it mostly doesn't matter. I just finally went and did the tests so that I wouldn't have an awkward blank spot on certain funding applications.