Can you graduate high school in 3 years

Students must take one half credit of speech. Elective courses make up the final credits. Make a plan outlining how you will get all of the required courses taken. Many middle schools offer students the chance to take courses for high school credit, and students can enter high school with two or more credits. Junior colleges often partner with school districts to allow high school students to take courses at a reduced fee. Those wishing to graduate early may be able to take evening courses or classes during the summer.

Take and pass all state-required standardized tests. Students typically take these tests before the end of their third year, but if students take a course early or in summer school, they should check with their counselor to see if tests can be taken early. Plan to take more courses. Students who wish to graduate in the top ten percent of their class must take all of the courses required under the foundational plan plus an extra credit each of math and science.

Do you realize the roadblocks that kind of debt could cause not just after graduation, but for the rest of your life? If not, click here to get a quick reality check. You should at least have more of a plan than staying home and playing League of Legends. In which case, respect. If you plan to enroll in a university immediately after graduation, then you probably have nothing to worry about here. However, if you were planning to make a pit stop at your local community college after high school, you run the risk of losing your freshman status.

In this case, it might be better to stay enrolled in high school and pursue dual credit instead. This will still allow you to get ahead in school, but without losing that all-important freshman status.

Bonus: some states even offer free dual credit to high school students. Eligibility requirements vary from scholarship to scholarship. Everyone needs a little help when making big life decisions. And graduating high school early definitely qualifies as a big life decision.

Talk to your parents, teachers, mentors—any adult who you respect and who knows you well. Talk to them about your ideas, your plans, and the motivation behind those ideas and plans. Ask if they have any advice for you. You could work at a theater, help out at an archaeological dig, volunteer, and so on. Spending a year away from school can help you get a better idea of how you want to spend the rest of your life —and it can also give you some great, enriching experiences.

Some high school students know early on what they want to do professionally and don't want or need to go to college in order to enter this field and be successful; as a result, you might want to graduate early so you can get started as soon as possible on establishing your career and earning a consistent income. Entering the workforce at a younger age does come with its own set of challenges, of course for example, you might find it difficult to get a full-time job if you're under 18 , but it can be an ideal path for those who are ready to put in the energy and effort needed to find success.

Graduating high school early to start working might also be a good option for you if you want or need to start making money right away, whether to support yourself or your family. The majority of college applicants are high school seniors, and most of the college application advice out there is aimed at them.

But what do you do if you don't fall into this narrow category? Our eBook on how to prepare for and apply to college as a nontraditional student will walk you through everything you need to know , from the coursework you should have under your belt to how to get letters of recommendation when you're not a high school senior. A final reason you might want to graduate high school early is that you just don't enjoy it.

Some people feel lonely or out of place in high school, and others don't feel that they're learning a lot. This can be a legitimate reason to graduate high school early, but make sure you understand that it'll take time and effort on your part to plan it out , and you won't be able to finish high school immediately.

So, how can you graduate high school early? I've outlined the steps you need to follow below. There's a bit of math involved but nothing you can't handle. After all, you'll soon be a high school graduate! This first step is pretty simple: all you need to do is decide how early you want to graduate high school. Do you want to graduate a semester early? An entire year? How long do you want to spend pursuing whatever it is you're doing instead of attending high school?

When figuring this out, keep in mind that it's often easier to graduate just a semester early than it is a whole year. If that doesn't seem like a long enough time to you, remember that even if you only graduate a semester early, you'll finish high school in December or January. If you start college the following September, that still gives you about eight months of time to work, travel, or pursue another opportunity.

If you still need help deciding, talk to your academic advisor. They're a great resource to have, and they'll likely be able to help make this process easier not to mention, you'll have to let them know if you officially decide to graduate early, so you might as well start talking to them now.

Now that you know when you want to graduate, it's time to get into the math. Almost every high school requires its students to complete a certain number of credits before they can graduate. Look in your student handbook or ask your academic advisor to find out how many credits your particular high school requires. As an example, we'll use the high school I graduated from, which required its students to complete 21 credits, with each class worth about 0.

First, figure out how many credits you've already completed. You can usually find this information on your report card or transcript, or you can ask your advisor. Next, subtract the number of credits you've completed from the number of total credits you need to graduate. The answer you get is the number of credits you'll need to take before you can graduate. The good news for you is that the number of graduating credits for most high schools often doesn't require you to complete four full-time years of school.

Again, for my high school, you needed to complete 21 credits to graduate, but a student attending high school full-time would complete about 7 credits each year, meaning most students at the end of their junior year would already have enough credits to graduate. The number of credits you need to take isn't all you need to worry about, though, so let's move on to the next step. We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service.

We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools , from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Look at your student handbook or talk to your advisor to learn which classes students at your high school must take in order to graduate. This will usually require a certain number of semesters of math, English, science, and social studies , as well as some possible other requirements, such as a gym or fine arts class.

Make a list of all the required classes you haven't taken yet. Sometimes the requirements are general, such as taking six semesters of math, while other times they're more specific e.

Pay attention to this when making your list. Be aware that most high schools require four years of English but fewer years of other core subjects. Now, we move on from classes that you must take in order to graduate to classes that it's a good idea for you to take but aren't actually required. Many times, the bare minimum high school graduation requirements aren't enough to get you into top colleges.

For example, your high school might only require you to take two years of social studies, but the colleges you're interested in might want three to four years. Check the admission requirements for several colleges you're interested in attending , and add any additional requirements they have to the list of classes you need to take in high school.

Keep in mind that you'll want to take more classes in the subject s you plan to study in college.