I'm not sure our experience is direct enough, but it may jump start the discussion. We looked at the program, went to the orientations, and DD has friends in the program. Our impression was that this program's yearly cohort does provide a good group of peers for that first year, but it is not well maintained as the students disperse to other classes. The program seems, IMO, to provide a "bridge" to college, not a total college experience. After the students are done with the transition school, they are in the regular population. Our take home was that the students need to be college ready, with all that implies, after transition school. At the time, we did not think this was a good choice for DD. Now that we've seen high school up close and personal, we're not as sure that the social aspects of high school are really that much better than college. The many distractions and potential derailments from academic pursuits (namely sex, drugs, peer pressure, dating, scary (to parents) friends, and authority figures giving bad advice) are all to be found in both places.
Some of these issues may be easier to deal with for a 13-14 year old than for an 18 year old college freshman. The 13 year old can't drive, earn enough money to declare independence and move in with their significant other, or decide to leave school and hitchhike across the middle east, while the 18 year old can do all of that.
Today, I would say that families considering this option should look hard at what they hope to get out of it and examine the reasons that they expect early college to be better than the available high school choices. Additionally, I'd think hard about how this will position your child for future education and career choices. Examples: Students wishing to pursue lab experiences to position themselves for admission to medical school may have difficulty finding a lab that can take them when they are under 16, leaving them with less experience than other applicants. Students may not be able to take internships that are vital to engineering and computer science career success if they are under 18 and would need to travel to another city and rent an apartment (or car). Students may not be able to get security clearance if they are under 18. Students may have a hard time getting a part time job that is relevant to their major if they are under age.
That said, high school really has not presented any academic challenge for DD. Executive function challenges galore in the form of homework load and coordinating multiple goals, but no academic challenge.
I'm just not sure that the college classes would have been challenging either.
On another note, we did like that students live with parents the first two years. Most early college experiences go fine, but I can't forget the Alabama case:
http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no12uab.htmlI'm not saying don't do it, just be clear on the goals and impacts.
