I am currently trying to decide whether or not I should go to an alternative school to graduate early from high school. I am a junior and I am stuck because I don’t want to ruin my chances to get into college? Does anyone know what my chances are of getting in to a UC or CSU if I graduate from high school early.
UCs and CSUs care about the courses you took, the grades you earned and your test scores. UCs also care about what you did outside the classroom. They don’t care how long you were in high school - as long as you’ve completed the required courses with acceptable grades. Here’s the course list:
http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/a-g-requirements/
Other than the 4 years of English, it would be pretty easy to check all those boxes on a compressed time line.
Unfortunately, the UCs have become quite competitive and all 9 campuses now require substantially more than the minimum. Take a look at the way they evaluate freshman applicants
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/how-applications-reviewed/index.html
Now look at the UCR ((one of the less picky UCs) freshman class profile:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_riverside.pdf
Particularly focus on the # of honors/AP courses and the # of a-g courses. Those would be tough to do in a compressed schedule.
CSUs are different - They requires the same courses but, don’t really care if you go above and beyond.
You compete for admission based on your academic GPA in grades 10-11 and your SAT/ACT. As long as you meet the a-g guidelines (including 4 years of English) graduating a semester early probably wouldn’t be too detrimental to your chances at most CSUs. Of course, then you miss Senior Ball, the whole cap and gown thing, etc.
For most people, there is little to be gained by leaving early. You get 80 years to be a grown up… hold it off as long as you can.