3 ms·

From my experiences of HS/College in the US, I wish someone had told me I could've gotten a GED, taken the SAT/ACTs and gone to college when I was 15. I feel as

From my experiences of HS/College in the US, I wish someone had told me I could've gotten a GED, taken the SAT/ACTs and gone to college when I was 15. I feel as though I missed out on advancing my knowledge at a time in my life when I could focus on it with vast amounts of my time and energy. Although I'm not "behind" the average progression of someone at my stage in life, I feel as though I'm behind where I could be, had I known there was the alternate path.

rayiner 14y ago
One of the administrators at my law school dropped out of high school, got a GED, and went to Harvard undergrad. Growing up, I always believed that colleges cared intensely about what classes you took in high school, etc. They don't. Nobody cares what you did in high school as long as you keep up a 4.0 in whatever classes you did take. People will care where you went to undergrad, people will care where you got your MBA, but nobody will care about your high school (barring making old-money connections at a place like Andover or Exeter). I quite enjoyed my high school experience, but for kids who didn't, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to push them to get out as soon as possible, and maybe take community college classes for awhile until they're ready for college. Lot's of people who hate high school thrive in the more self-directed environment of college.
- mindcrime 14y ago
  People will care where you went to undergrad, people will care where you got your MBA, but nobody will care about your high school (barring making old-money connections at a place like Andover or Exeter). Some people will care about that stuff. Many won't.
- biscarch 14y ago
  Not sure about the Harvards of the world, but I'm pretty sure the college I ended up going to only cared about my ACT score, which was > double the minimum score required for them. I know many people in my HS enjoyed it and were challenged by the classes. Personally I took as many AP courses as I could get my hands on, but the two versions of an AP class seemed to be really slow pace and really high percentage busywork. By the time my senior year hit, for example, I was attending just enough of my AP Calc class to stay in it and when I was there I slept. AP Calc was my favorite course in HS (because of the math, not nap time), but between the lack of content and slow pace, I couldn't stay awake. I always got points off for not showing work on tests, etc, because I did the work in my head and the time it took to write everything out wasn't worth the ~2 points it cost me. My college experience wasn't much better. These days I assume it's because I spent the extra four years in HS. I had academic and athletic scholarships, but the classes were ridiculous and of the same HS variety. Sometimes I wonder if applying to places like Stanford would have helped the situation, but when I see the course setups I'm not so sure. I'd agree that college is more self-directed than HS, but I don't believe it's self directed enough.

rayiner 14y ago

One of the administrators at my law school dropped out of high school, got a GED, and went to Harvard undergrad. Growing up, I always believed that colleges cared intensely about what classes you took in high school, etc. They don't. Nobody cares what you did in high school as long as you keep up a 4.0 in whatever classes you did take. People will care where you went to undergrad, people will care where you got your MBA, but nobody will care about your high school (barring making old-money connections at a place like Andover or Exeter). I quite enjoyed my high school experience, but for kids who didn't, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to push them to get out as soon as possible, and maybe take community college classes for awhile until they're ready for college. Lot's of people who hate high school thrive in the more self-directed environment of college.

mindcrime 14y ago
People will care where you went to undergrad, people will care where you got your MBA, but nobody will care about your high school (barring making old-money connections at a place like Andover or Exeter). Some people will care about that stuff. Many won't.
biscarch 14y ago
Not sure about the Harvards of the world, but I'm pretty sure the college I ended up going to only cared about my ACT score, which was > double the minimum score required for them. I know many people in my HS enjoyed it and were challenged by the classes. Personally I took as many AP courses as I could get my hands on, but the two versions of an AP class seemed to be really slow pace and really high percentage busywork. By the time my senior year hit, for example, I was attending just enough of my AP Calc class to stay in it and when I was there I slept. AP Calc was my favorite course in HS (because of the math, not nap time), but between the lack of content and slow pace, I couldn't stay awake. I always got points off for not showing work on tests, etc, because I did the work in my head and the time it took to write everything out wasn't worth the ~2 points it cost me. My college experience wasn't much better. These days I assume it's because I spent the extra four years in HS. I had academic and athletic scholarships, but the classes were ridiculous and of the same HS variety. Sometimes I wonder if applying to places like Stanford would have helped the situation, but when I see the course setups I'm not so sure. I'd agree that college is more self-directed than HS, but I don't believe it's self directed enough.