Pros or cons to early college

[Grantmom]

I was just wondering if any of you have any opinions about pros or cons of starting college early, if the student could continue to live at home.  What is that like in terms of social groups, peers, readiness, etc.?  I know every child is absolutely different, and this is all just theoretical, I am just curious about broad, general opinions.  I have known of some homeschooled students who simply started college at 15 or 16, and finished an associates degree while living at home.  I am just curious what people think about that, whether it's for or against or a little of both.  Thoughts?

[regentrude]

I am not quite sure how you define "early college": taking some classes or a full load? Community college or university?

There is no "for it" or "against it", because it all depends on the student and his goals:

 

Is the student mature enough to handle the academics, the time management, the communication with instructors and fellow students?

How does this plan fit with the overall educational goals?

What kind of college is available close to home?

Would the student be better served to graduate slightly later and move away to a college where he can pursue the degree program he is interested in?

What benefit for the given career field does the associate's degree give?

Would any credit earned at this college be transferable to the institution the student would want to attend to finish the bachelors?

 

The answers will vary greatly.

 

I can share our experience. My DD has been taking dual enrollment courses at the local university since she was 14. Our goal was never very early high school graduation, so we used this coursework as part of her high school education.

We were not interested in having her complete an associate degree at a community college; we chose the university for teh elvel of coursework. We could have easily graduated her from high school at 15 and had her enrolled full time, but this did not fit her educational goals. She will leave for college in another state in the fall. Whether any of the 34 credits she has earned transfer will depend on where she gets accepted; some universities take the credits, others take absolutely none.

 

With respect to academics, it was no problem. She never had any trouble with her coursework and outperformed the majority of her class mates at age 15 in engineering physics. The interaction with instructors has been very positive.

Socially, though, the age gap and the different life situation of a young student living at home and being chauffeured around by her parents prevented her from being able to fully participate in campus life and pursue vibrant friendships with college students; this has changed since she has been 16 and able to drive and be more independent. To her, this is a very important aspect.

 

[OhioMomof3]

My first son began college coursework in 9th grade (14 years old).  He took 1 course per quarter to accompany his other coursework at home.  He gradually increased his college coursework and decreased his workload at home until he was going full-time his senior year of high school.  We chose this arrangement rather than to graduate him early from high school.  It worked out well for him.

 

My second son did not take any college classes until this year (his senior year of high school); we didn't think he had the organizational skills and academic readiness to succeed until this year.  He is a full-time student and is doing well.

 

One of the cons is the exposure to mature content, both in coursework and in conversations with other college students.  We chose specific courses over others to limit the exposure to mature material. 

 

The college that my first son attends accepted credits equivalent to 1.5 years.  My second son will go to college this fall, and that college will accept all his credits; this means he will have 1 year completed.  This has been such a blessing to our family.

[8filltheheart]

It all depends on goals and student, dual enrollment vs. fulltime, college level classes or remedial classes, community college or 4 yr university.

 

We don't graduate our kids early.  We have not had the greatest experience with the quality of CC classes.   I would not send my kids elsewhere for what is the equivalent of a high school class.   We reserve dual enrolling for coursework that is beyond my ability to provide at home and will count toward a degree (even if it won't end up transferring to a given school, we want it to at least be the equivalent of a typical 4 yr university course)

 

It really pays to spend time investigating possible university choices in order to understand how your decision will pan out in the future.   For example, some 4 yr universities will accept transfer credit but only if taken in person on a 4 yr campus.   Some will do the same for a CC.   They won't accept online classes.   Others will accept any class as long as it matches their course description.   Some won't accept any.   Some limit the number of hours you can transfer in to something like 16.   There is absolutely NO single answer.

 

Our sr has  enough credits to make him a 2nd semester sophomore.    All of his classes were taken on campus of a 4 yr university and are 200-300 level courses.   We have run into multiple of the above scenarios depending on the institution.

 

 

[Jenny in Florida]

I've had two students go the early college route, in different ways.

 

My daughter enrolled in a full-time early college program housed at a small women's college. Although the early college students have their own dorm and more stringent rules in their first couple of years, they are otherwise fully integrated into the campus. They take classes and do extracurriculars and socialize with all of the "trads" (students of a traditional age). My daughter moved into the dorm when she was 12 and graduated with her B.A. at 16.

 

Almost three years later, she remains ambivalent about her choice. There were things about going to college early, and especially about spending four years living with other very bright girls, that were wonderful, but she does wonder sometimes if she might have gotten more out of waiting a few years and then attending a more selective school. Immediately after graduation, she felt more negatively about her experience than she seems to nowadays. People always laugh or look at me skeptically when I say that my daughter isn't really an academic by nature. She's very good at school, but doesn't love it. So, every now and then she looks at her age peers who are just now finishing their first years of college and shakes her head at the idea that she could be facing another three years of college, still, rather than already working in her field and getting on with her life. Over all, it seems she feels good about where she is and where she is going.

 

Meanwhile, my son was in less of a hurry to get to college. His loose plan had always been to take the scenic route, to do lots of outside activities and not take school as seriously as his sister did. He said repeatedly that he would take his time and just plan on graduating from high school and applying to college when his friends did so. Then, he opted to start dual enrollment at the community college this fall when he was 15, mostly because he was bored at home. It's gone well for him, and sometime around October, he asked if there was any good reason not to go ahead and apply for full-time college this coming fall. I couldn't think of any reason for him to wait longer if he didn't want to. He's been accepted at several colleges. He'll still be 16 when he moves into the dorm this fall.

 

As Regentrude says, it's really not about being "for or against," but about finding the path that works for each individual student. When we started homeschooling, I did not have "Send the kids to college early" as an action item on my agenda. It's just kind of worked out that way, even though each of mine has taken a different route to get there.

[ChristineP]

My dd started community college at age 15 while still living at home.  She completed 53 hours by age 17 and moved to a dorm at a 4 year college.  She is finishing up her first year there and loves it.  She is having no problems at all socially.  It was hard for her the first year or so at the community college but then she figured out how to make friends and fit in.  I really think it helped her to make the transition to a 4 year school.  She learned how to find people to study with and how to interact with others in a school situation.  Also, the experience gained from a community college was priceless for her to excel in her classes now as a freshman at a 4 year school.  She is studying chemical engineering and will still be going there 4 years for her degree.  She has more flexibility with her schedule and will be able to study abroad because she has the extra credit hours earned early.

 

[G5052]

As the others have said, it can be very good.

 

Or not.  I am a professor at a good community college.  About 2/3 of our graduates say that they're going to go on for a 4-year degree, and we have no problem sending them to a wide variety of "name brand" schools both public and private.  I have former students who have gone on to law school, vet school, and medical school.

 

But keep in mind that some students don't do well with dual enrollment and/or early admission.  I currently teach a freshman-level class that everyone has to take, and about 1/2 of my younger students fail it.  I've had homeschool parents screaming at me over the phone because their kid failed, and I had to tell them that I rarely saw their teen in class.  I've also seen younger kids get involved with the bad crowd and flunk out of all of their classes.  Or just cave under the pressure of having homework with deadlines and having to study for comprehensive tests.  And the problem is that poor grades will follow them.  College counts.  I always feel sad when I hear about a homeschooled kid who completely flunked out.  Thankfully they actually no longer allow that for dual enrollment (only two classes the first semester), but I know people who graduated their student early and put them into a full schedule right away without considering if they were ready.  It's lost money, lost time, and their confidence is shaken.

 

With my own, we take it slow.  Start with just a class or two in an area of strength as dual enrollment where they had some solid studies in high school.  We're doing IT and Spanish (should be easy after AP Latin).  In other words, don't have them take college biology without high school biology if that's a tough class at that school (mine has nursing, so biology is tough). Keep in mind the mature content.  My college used to use an English textbook that had some pretty disturbing material with assignments that would be emotionally tough for a sheltered homeschooled kid.  Thankfully they switched books to something that is more balanced, and I have heard good reports from several parents who said that it was a little "edgy" on the adult side but fine for a mature teenager.  Remain involved, ask to see how they are doing.  Educate yourself on free resources such as tutoring, online help, and other college programs so that you can suggest those if they get bogged down.  

 

And yes, we do have 4-6 students every year who graduate with their associate's at 18 or younger who do just fine.  I don't say that it is impossible, just be thoughtful about it.

[Pawz4me]

My youngest DS is in our county's early college high school.  He attends school on the community college campus all day.  As a freshman and sophomore he'll have two college classes in the morning and three high school classes in the afternoon.  As a junior and senior all his classes will be college level.  If he follows the schedule and passes all his classes, he will graduate from the CC with an associate's degree a few weeks before he graduates from high school.

 

He applied to the early college because we all felt it would be the right fit for him right now.  Truthfully, we didn't worry too much about future pros/cons, but were focused on what we felt was the best fit for him for now.

 

The cons I've heard -- Being in class with people much older than 14 or 15.  I personally don't see the social aspect as a problem, but rather a benefit.  Are there some undesirables there I'd rather DS not associate with?  I'm sure there are.  But DS has little tolerance for such people.  And the high school principal is quite the Mama Bear, and she keeps close watch on the freshman.  She does it unobtrusively, though.  I think I love her.

 

College classes may (probably will) contain more mature material and themes than a high school class might.  This wasn't a concern for us, but may be for more conservative families.  We've always been a wide-open family as far as discussing sex and violence and world events.  No sheltered kids here.

 

The fact that this is "real" college and the GPA follows them around forever can be a con.  So I second the advice to make sure to not schedule above a kid's ability.  If we were dual-enrolling on our own I'd make sure to start off with a class that I thought would be relatively easy to let him "get his feet wet" in college and get used to the environment, and then I'd move on to more challenging classes.

 

We've heard that some four-year universities may have issues with college credits earned in high school.  Some may not accept them, and sometimes if a student has enough credits that are accepted they may be admitted into some universities as a sophomore or even a junior, and would lose opportunities for freshman scholarships.  I'm sure both of those things vary from university to university, and neither is a huge con as far as we're concerned.  If none of his classes transfer, then he's still had lots of good experience at doing college level work, interacting with professors and administration and other students.  If he loses out on the chance for some scholarships . . . well, in that event it would mean a lot of his credits transferred . . who's to say any scholarship he would have gotten would be enough to offset already having lots of credits?

[SkateLeft]

.

 

[SKL]

The pros - more meaningful, engaging work, no need to take BS courses in high school that add nothing in the long term because you cover all that info in the first months of college.  Being around people who value their education, who take responsibility and think about the future.  Being ready to discuss grown-up topics and to earn a living sooner.  Being treated like a human being instead of a criminal / zoo animal (if the other alternative is public high school).

 

The cons - if they are under about 16, college probably can't meet their social needs.  It isn't free and as someone above noted, it "counts."  They might find some of the subjects too mature (I remember disliking poetry class, because according to the prof, every poem ever written was about sex; and I had nothing to contribute to that subject).

 

I am not sure I'd worry about bad influences such as drugs and sex, because those are found in public high school too - and church groups, camps, sports ... it's going to be a consideration no matter where your teen hangs out socially.

[musicianmom]

Jenny in FL, I have been meaning to ask you: did your son have so many credits that you just changed his official grade level to 12th, or is he actually applying as a junior? I've been wondering how that worked for scholarship purposes.

[Jenny in Florida]

Jenny in FL, I have been meaning to ask you: did your son have so many credits that you just changed his official grade level to 12th, or is he actually applying as a junior? I've been wondering how that worked for scholarship purposes.

 

 

He'll have enough credits to justify graduating. So, once he decided to apply for this fall, we just started calling him a 12th grader.

 

To be honest, no one has questioned anything about his applications, and he's been awarded the top level of academic merit aid seven of the eight colleges to which he's been admitted (so far). The eighth one won't disclose any information about scholarships until they send the complete financial package.

 

He's also been informed that he has been awarded or recommended for performance awards at all of the schools at which he's already auditioned.

 

So, it doesn't seem that either his age or his somewhat unconventional "grade" situation has caused any significant hiccups at this point.

[musicianmom]

He'll have enough credits to justify graduating. So, once he decided to apply for this fall, we just started calling him a 12th grader.

 

To be honest, no one has questioned anything about his applications, and he's been awarded the top level of academic merit aid seven of the eight colleges to which he's been admitted (so far). The eighth one won't disclose any information about scholarships until they send the complete financial package.

 

He's also been informed that he has been awarded or recommended for performance awards at all of the schools at which he's already auditioned.

 

So, it doesn't seem that either his age or his somewhat unconventional "grade" situation has caused any significant hiccups at this point.

Well, that makes sense. I knew he was getting all these fantastic offers (I fight the February blahs by reading the college acceptance threads and daydreaming of the future), and I wondered if the colleges were looking at him as a senior or as a junior applying for early entrance. Congratulations to him!

[Rebel Yell]

I did not have DIamond take CC classes while still in high school, and likely will not for SweetChild for the following reasons:

 

1. Cost. a single 3-credit class costs $300 for tuition alone. 2-course limit/semester for high school students = 4 classes/year. $1,200, plus fees and books, closer to $1,600/year.  FAR out of our price range- I couldn't even afford $160 for the books we need at home. No financial aid for high-schoolers.

 

2. Schedule. Even though the local CC is just 5 miles away, I really don't want to make the trip 4 times/day (or drive/wait) 3-5 days/week. especially for a 50-minute class.

 

3. Course content. Some is fine, some of it is too 'mature' for them.

 

 

I will likely have BabyBaby take CC classes- not sure if I can keep up with her if she follows her intended path in Math & Science.

 

[Jenny in Florida]

1. Cost. a single 3-credit class costs $300 for tuition alone. 2-course limit/semester for high school students = 4 classes/year. $1,200, plus fees and books, closer to $1,600/year.  FAR out of our price range- I couldn't even afford $160 for the books we need at home. No financial aid for high-schoolers.

 

Wow, those issues would discourage me, too!

 

I guess we're lucky. At our local community college, high schoolers may dual enroll with free tuition and no fees. (Homeschoolers pay for books, but dual-enrolled students from local schools get vouchers to cover books, too.) And they may take up to 12 credit hours per semester.

[Okra]

The pros - more meaningful, engaging work, no need to take BS courses in high school that add nothing in the long term because you cover all that info in the first months of college.  Being around people who value their education, who take responsibility and think about the future.  Being ready to discuss grown-up topics and to earn a living sooner.  Being treated like a human being instead of a criminal / zoo animal (if the other alternative is public high school).

 

 

 

This statement just made me laugh out loud.....Oh my.....  having two kids in public school, I can tell you they both are treated humanly.....not like zoo animals or criminals. Wow......just wow....

[SKL]

This statement just made me laugh out loud.....Oh my.....  having two kids in public school, I can tell you they both are treated humanly.....not like zoo animals or criminals. Wow......just wow....

 

Just drawing on my own personal experience.  I'm glad it isn't everyone's experience.

[Trilliums]

My high schoolers have also taken DE classes at the local university over graduating early.  BUT, for us, the university it near our home and the cost of classes (~$1000 per semester class) is covered through the PSEO option.  If we did not live close to a university or CC, or we had to pay for individual costs out of pocket, I would have looked into early college.

 

 

[Guest]

dd started community college at 15. Of course I'm proud of her, but one big con is that she was either not eligible for financial aid or I was not able to find any info on how to apply for it.

 

ds decided to go to public high school instead.

 

At 24 and 22, neither of them have their BAs, but dd has a lot of credit card debt and has worked some very unsavory jobs. Of course it's a matter of perspective, as ds's military and law enforcement background isn't exactly what everybody wants their twentysomething doing to pay the bills.

[regentrude]

This statement just made me laugh out loud.....Oh my.....  having two kids in public school, I can tell you they both are treated humanly.....not like zoo animals or criminals. Wow......just wow....

 

I guess she might have been thinking of things like:

• being able to use the bathroom when needed, for however long needed (which is not possible at our high school where there are only three minutes between periods and students have to change rooms, and not allowed at the middle school where the entire class is collectively marched to the bathroom by the teacher),
• being able to eat when hungry (which was not allowed when my kids went to public school)
• being able to leave the building after work has been completed (instead of being kept to adhere to a strict dismissal schedule)
• being able to wear clothing of personal choice, express personal opinions freely
• being not constantly under adult supervision
• being allowed to take a pain pill for cramps without risking suspension for "drug possession"

Coming from a completely different school culture, I was shocked to see how many rigid rules are imposed on school students in this country, how little freedom they have, and how very basic rights are denied in a way society would not think to treat adults (unless incarcerated)

If your public school is different, consider yourself and your children lucky. VERY lucky.

[MarkT]

It really pays to spend time investigating possible university choices in order to understand how your decision will pan out in the future.   For example, some 4 yr universities will accept transfer credit but only if taken in person on a 4 yr campus.   Some will do the same for a CC.   They won't accept online classes. 

 

If the online class is just a class in the course catalog of a brick & mortar school, I believe the transcript will not show any difference between taken online versus regular class.