Graduating is the most exciting factor that occurs in our life, as you work hard to achieve your goal to walk across the stage and penetrate to the next chapter of your life. Graduating early from high school means completing the amount of credit requirements in less than four years as you still earn your diploma. As you enter your junior or senior year if you meet the credit requirements you might want to consider graduating early. There are benefits for students who have the chance to graduate early but there are also disadvantages. Students might want to graduate early because they want to save up and work full-time, pursue athletic opportunities, have more time to apply for scholarships, personal goals, or community college or any university.
Pros of graduating early
Flexibility
Being a full-time student being flexible could be a challenge. Maybe you don’t have time to plan out your future, achieving your personal goals, etc. But as to having the freedom once you’ll be eligible to graduate early it gives you different opportunities to plan whatever you need to make sure you’re ready for the next step.
Early career start
This benefits you to take on the experience and what it feels like to build and start your career. And to give you a head start to learn and feel how the work experience goes and prepares you, as you go into adulthood.
Save money
There are a lot of senior activities that come along for the start to the end such as homecoming, prom, etc. Those activities can cost up and even might be expensive. And as it comes for some who plan to go to college, extra money would be a great attribute to save for college. Graduating early can save you money on housing, tuition and extras. And it gives you time to plan out the amount of money you would need to save in order to pay that certain amount and for emergencies.
Set your own schedule
As we know you have a routine and a schedule to go by as a student. You wake and go to sleep early. But, if you graduate you might not have to worry about that. Depending on where you work and your shift it might vary day to day or it could be repetitive. And you can be flexible with your schedule if you set your own. For example if you have to wake up at 5 or 6 that might change to waking up much later or at about 7, 8, or 9.
Cons of graduating early
Less time for social life
As you’re in school with the pressure and the amount of work that’s equipped, if you’re not graduating early it might reduce the activities you want to do because you might have to study for a test or finish homework. There is not a lot of time to do what you want. Because you know that academics come first rather than going skating with your friends on a weekend.
Heavier workload
Senior year is stressful. You have to apply to colleges and write essays, not only that but you have to apply for scholarships, take senior pictures, etc. And with that it takes up a lot of time as opposed to graduating early. You have time to look at scholarships thoroughly, apply to more colleges as you please, and tour colleges.
You’ll miss out on high school experiences and/or activities
In school there are a lot of fun activities depending on the school you might go to. There are spirit days, hanging out with friends, etc. As you grow older you might have dreamed of the “high school” experience which counts for memories, laughter, the good things about school. Of course there are disadvantages such as stress, tests. But the experience is what is most important.
In conclusion, Is graduating early worth it?
As an individual there is no right or wrong answer. It depends on the student and their current situation to figure out if it’s the right decision for them. Their personal goals, or financial situations. As well as, reviewing the pros and cons but this also requires for them to talk to any counselors or guardians. Ask yourself questions to confirm if you want to go further or not. Do you want to save money and work full-time? What will you do once you graduate early? Would you still want to be committed to experience the high school festivities? There are a lot of different reasons that should be considered as you think about graduating early or not. As it sounds like a good idea there might be senior things you might not be able to do once you graduate.
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