You are perhaps asking yourself, “how to graduate high school early?” The same way one can graduate in a college, you can graduate high school early. But the process isn’t that easy because of the hard work it requires for it to be successful. However, it’s possible.
Several reasons may trigger you to have the desire to graduate high school early. Some of them include taking a gap year, starting a specific trade, or doing a college or university scholarship for student-athletes.
Whatever the reason may be, it’s essential to know that it’s possible to graduate high school early. Here’s what to do:
- Figure Out On When to Graduate
This is the first and very easy step when you want to graduate high school early. All you have to do is deciding on how early to wish to graduate high school. Do you wish to graduate a year early or a semester early? Also, think of how long you want to take doing whatever you want to do rather than going to high school.
When thinking of this, you should know that it’s very easy to graduate a semester early than a whole year. And if that doesn’t look like enough time for you, don’t forget that even if you graduate high school a semester earlier, you’ll end up completing high school either in December or January.
If you commence your college academics the following September, you’ll still have about eight months to travel, pursue a different opportunity, or work.
- Check On Your Credit Requirements Then Calculate
The next thing to do is figuring the number of credits you need to score to allow you to graduate. Here, it would be best if you boiled down to simple arithmetic. It’s a requirement in all high schools for all students to finish a specific number of credits to graduate.
Check on your handbook or inquire from your academic advisor to calculate for you the number of credits that your high school requires. Most high schools require students to finish at least 21 credits, with every class worth around 0.5 every semester.
Begin by figuring out the credits that you’ve already finished. This information is usually found on your transcript or report card.
Then take away the accomplished credits from the overall credits needed for graduation. The final answer is the number of credits that you need to take before graduation. The good news is: the number of credits needed for graduation in most schools doesn’t need you to finish four full-time years in school.
But the number of credits should be a stressor! Therefore, let’s move to the next step.
- Decide on Which Classes You want to Graduate
Now it’s time to determine the classes that you wish to pursue to graduate. Here. You can speak to your advisor or look at your handbook to know the classes that students at your school must finish to graduate.
It’s time to figure out the specific classes you need to take to graduate. This requires a specific number of semesters of English, Science, Math, and Social studies. Besides that, look at other requirements like fine arts class and gym.
Create a list of the classes needed that you’ve not yet done. The requirements are always general, like taking six math semesters, and other times the requirements are a bit specific. Make sure you pay attention to these requirements while making your list.
- Determine The Classes That The Colleges You Admire Require
The next thing to do is checking on the classes that you must attend to graduate.
Mostly, the minimum high school graduation necessities aren’t enough to make you qualify for top colleges. For instance, your current high school can only require you to pursue two years of social studies, but the institutions of higher learning that you desire might require three or four years.
Look at the admission requirements for different colleges that you wish to attend. Then, make any additional necessities that they have and the list of classes that you need to do while in high school.
Remember that you’ll take additional classes in the subjects that you desire to pursue in College.
- Create A Plan For When To Undertake The Rest Of The Classes
Having known the credits that you must have and the classes that you must complete, now begin planning how you are going to graduate early.
Be sure to create new schedules for all the high school semesters that you have left.
Having done that, fill in the blank spaces, starting with all the classes required for graduation. For each class, add its number of credits close to it in parentheses. In some cases, you may not understand exactly the class you’ll be taking next.
Once you finish filling in the required classes and you still have extra space, add extra classes you wish to attend, or ones that would be significant in helping you join a college.
Immediately all spaces on the schedule are full, add all credits that you’ll have done. Then, look at the classes left over the list.
If you wish to take extra classes or credits, start thinking about how you can fix them outside the regular school days. Some choices include online classes, taking classes in either Community-University or college or summer classes. Ensure you discuss with the advisor each of these courses before enrolling to be sure that you’ll get the desired courses.
Immediately you figure out how you’ll attend each of the additional classes, include the information on the schedule. After you are through with designing the schedule, make sure you double-check it to be sure that all the high school graduation necessities are met.
Voila! —you now have a proper plan for early high school graduation. If you’ve never done such a thing before, share the plan with your academic advisor, then inquire whether there are further steps needed.
David Nilsen is the former editor of Fourth & Sycamore. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. You can find more of his writing on his website at davidnilsenwriter.com and follow him on Twitter as @NilsenDavid.