College prior to HS graduation?

Hello all:

My son is a junior in High School and has enough credits to graduate early. He is staying in order to not miss his senior year and I support him. He has however expressed an interest in exploring on line courses prior to entering college to get his feet wet with the work.

He is an excellent student. 3.75, honor roll, national honor society, Varsity football, president of his class etc, etc. His HS records are stellar.

Here's the question: Without an actual diploma from HS can he enroll in an on line college for credit classes?

He may have his pick of schools but he is actually leaning towards getting an on line degree seeing as though some very good schools are offering them at a much lower cost.

I hope that Dr. Bear's new book gets here today and will maybe answer some questions but I would like to know if anyone has advice.

Thanks,

Rafael

BS Western state University, Fullerton, CA
JD " " ( ABA )
MBA Pepperdine, Malibu, CA
MS Kansas State University, KS ( 2003 )

 

Though policies of individual schools may vary, the answer is most cases will be yes, particularly from schools that are not DL only.

Brick-and-mortar community colleges and 4-year state colleges almost always have arrangements to allow local high school students to take classes (at night or even during the day instead of regular high school classes). I wouldn't think that they would have any problem with non-local students taking DL offerings.

I would check with the high school to see what their policy is on the matter and then check with colleges.

 

In Northern California high school students that have a good academic record (and your son would be) attend classes tuition free. They will only let him take general education courses, but there are a full two years of classes in gen. ed.

The Community Colleges offer online, TV, and on campus classes, so it should be relatively easy to find classes that fit his busy schedule.

Don't worry about him taking CC classses on his record when he applies for the 4 year degrees, it will really enhance his overall application.

 

I took a College Psychology course while in High School and was given credit for it when I attended college. (Which was many years ago). I was discouraged from doing it by the guidance counselor for fear that the pace of college would be difficult. Your son seem like he would be able to handle it. I say go for it.

 

Your son will certainly be able to take college classes somewhere. Most colleges don't prohibit high school students from taking courses and some even encourage it and even have programs for high school students (although usually in the summer). The same is true for DL, I know that schools such as Harvard and Penn State allow high schoolers to enroll in their DL classes.

If there is an obstacle, it'll probably be your son's high school since you might need to get the principal's or some counselor's permission. However with your son's record I highly doubt something like that would be a problem.

 

Hi,
I took a combination of online and campus classes, as for me the online classes were tougher! In the classroom, you could read body language--tone,eye contact etc. this gave clues as what proffs expected.
Likewise, taking classes online was somewhat of a sterile enviroment, many times I would read and study everything with no real possibility of it all being retained. If your son is a very social creature, he may not like this avenue to college.
Although, he sounds like a go-getter, perhaps he can ease into a few online classes that are his strongest/favorite subject areas.
Buckwheat

 

Most certainly it is doable. I took around 12 units my senior yr in HS in CA. I just needed a letter from the principal and counselor saying to let me in. I went to a community college though and I took my college classes at night. Due to the fact I was head in units, my senior yr load was only like around a 1/2 day. So I had plenty of time. In hindsight though I was a science major and it really didn't help me get head since alot of the classes are sequential and pre-req'd, it basically allowed to have some lighter semesters in the beginning. If I could do it all over again I would've just gotten a job with the extra time.

Hope this helps.