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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304750404577321561583186358.html
High School, Only Shorter
Some Students Cure 'Senioritis' by Graduating Early; Trading Prom for Scholarships
By SUE SHELLENBARGER
Wall Street Journal
April 10, 2012

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Some 2.9% of students who were sophomores in 2002 graduated from high school in three years or less, based on the latest available data; that is up from 1.5% in a previous survey in the early 1990s, says Elise Christopher, a research scientist who tracks high-school students for the National Center for Education Statistics in Washington. The scholarships are a relatively new experiment by states to motivate students to plan and complete courses efficiently. Growth in online classes and the use of proficiency testing to earn credit are speeding the trend.

Proponents argue that the programs cut states' school spending and help families with college costs. They also eliminate "senioritis," a time when some students slack off on learning, says Jennifer Dounay Zinth, a senior policy analyst with Denver-based Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit policy research and analysis organization. The slump that sets in after college acceptance was the subject of a 2001 study by a government-funded commission, which recommended developing alternatives to the traditional senior year in the classroom.

That said, some education experts say there are downsides to three-year diplomas. Critics question whether students can be "emotionally or otherwise ready to enroll in college full-time at the age of 17," Ms. Zinth says. "Many people think four years is necessary." Also, early grads may have a more difficult time getting into competitive colleges, according to a study last year by researchers at Jobs for the Future, a Boston nonprofit group that promotes improvements in education and work force strategies; they may not have time to complete advanced-placement or college-level courses such colleges like to see.

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I support acceleration, but if "senioritis" is apathy caused by the end of anxiety over college admission, I expect that getting in to college in the spring of one's junior year causes "junioritis".

I don't know, wouldn't all of our kids who've skipped grades be in this spot anyway? My dd will be just shy of 17 when she starts college assuming she takes the full four years in high school.

I'd assume, that like when one is considering a grade skip earlier in the process, it is wise to consider whether the child is emotionally and socially ready to be done with school sooner, be in school with older kids, etc. If one considers all of those things when choosing to skip a grade or graduate early, I don't see why being younger should be a negative in and of itself.

A local private college prep school did a longitude study of its students for the last 30 years looking at these questions and others.

They found no difference in age at start of K/1st, skips, and outcomes. And IQ was only part of the equation when it came to high grades, test scores, and entrance to great colleges.

They do not yet know what is "too young" but skips of 1-2 years and getting a bachelors at 19/20 does not appear to be a negative at all.

Divorce is the biggest negative factor they have seen.


I know of someone who is 19 and in med school. They skipped two grades and graduated at 16. Then did the BS in 3 years Summa.

I shouldn't have been in college at 18.

I had no idea how to emotionally cope with the experience, either socially or academically, and it was the worst five years of my life, bar none because of that. I still have nightmares about it on a regular basis. The only bright side was that it was free.

I think that emotional maturity has more to do with it than anything else.

If you can't cope and adjust, you shouldn't be there.

I had a major case of senioritis, but that had nothing to do with college acceptance. It had to do with the fact that as I began my senior year I only needed two classes to graduate (English and Gov't/Econ), and I'd signed up for a big class load anyway involving Calculus and AP Physics. Both of the latter two were taught by the same teacher who wasn't actually interested in teaching anything or earning his living, so I ended up dropping both classes, found myself with little else worth doing for the school day, and decided to skip school a lot... like 15 absences per class per semester.

And I still pulled straight As.