Early Entrance FAQ

This FAQ is aimed at the students and parents who might seek admission to an early college entrance programs, and is written with broad generality in a hope to encompass many of the principles common to all such institutions. However, substantial variation does exist between programs and it is important to consider the details of any program you might be interested in. Most programs have staff that would be happy to talk with and send documentation to potential students and their families, so do not hesitate to contact them directly. A listing of the identified early entrance programs is accessible from the intro page or the comparison chart.

1. What is an Early Entrance Program?
2. Who should go to one of these programs?
3. What are the advantages?
4. What are the disadvantages?
5. What about safety, security, drugs, alcohol, sex, and other parental concerns?
6. What about the typical high school experiences?
7. How do the academic opportunities compare to those of honors or AP/IB classes at a regular school?
8. What are the opportunities and typical experiences after completing an early entrance program?
9. What about cost and financial aid?
10. If not these programs, then what else is available for gifted youth?

For the purposes of this website, early entrance programs have 3 essential characteristics:

1. They annually accept groups of students and the program results in them taking college courses for college credit at least a year before these students would typically enter college.
2. The students no longer regularly attend classes at their previous school, and once engaged in full-time college studies they do not have class work that is intended to be below college level.
3. The program provides a supportive environment and promotes socialization amongst students.

So essentially these are programs that take bright students and accelerate them into full-time college studies while maintaining a supportive environment to help make sure they succeed. These programs can differ on a number of qualities but the most important are the age group towards which they are geared and the goal intended for those who complete the program. Typically early entrance program are geared toward students who would otherwise be in the 11th or 12th grade, but a few routinely take students right out of middle school. Even programs aimed at older students will often take exceptionally gifted students of younger age, on a case-by-case basis.

A qualitative analysis of the 17 programs currently established in the US leads me to arrange them into 5 groups which I have dubbed as follows:

• Direct to College - This group of programs generates Bachelor’s Degrees for students that successfully complete them. They are also aimed at some of the youngest students, allowing them to effectively skip most or all of high school. The three programs in this group are EEP, TS/EEP, and PEG.
• High School Replacement - This group of programs allow students to replace their last year or two of high school with college. Care is taken that students will receive a high school diploma after completing time equivalent to the remainder of their high school years. These students then proceed to other colleges and universities where they apply credits already earned and complete their undergraduate education. Programs of this type are AAG, GAMES, MASMC, TAMS, TALH, EH, and TCS.
• Early Admissions Group - While it is a common practice for many schools to have some sort of early admission, these programs take it a step further by recruiting and supporting groups of students as they enter the university early. These programs typically last only a short period, and students continue their undergraduate education at the university as regular students. Programs of this type include UWA, RHP and NAASE.
• Young Scholars’ College - This type of program is a college in it’s own right but only accepts qualified young students. SRC is the only example of this type of program and is in many ways unique from the other four types of early entrance programs.
• Collegiate High School - This type of program blurs the distinction between college and high school by creating a multi-year high school like environment that smoothly transitions to college studies after several years. The examples of this type of model are BUA, BHSEC, and ECG. It should be noted that the Gates Foundation, in cooperation with other partners, has recently announced an effort to fund the creation of many more schools along the BHSEC model.

There is a large degree of variety among students going to college early, but the two unifying themes are intelligence and maturity. Qualified students will exhibit intellectual talents that are obvious to those around them. While giftedness manifests itself in many different ways, in essentially all cases the most gifted students demonstrate their abilities through unusual levels of accomplishment and unusual activities.

A good candidate academically, is a student who is at the top of their class and who has already been taking many of the most advanced classes available to him or her. When taking entrance tests such as the SAT or ACT, the student should also be able to perform at a level above that of entering freshmen at the college they plan to attend. In deciding on early college entrance, establishied programs offer the advantage of having already screened hundreds or thousands of students and thus being skilled in judging the qualifications of applicants to participate in the college environment. Consulting with program staff should allow a student to judge whether his or her academic background is suitable to the program in question, and whether there are any actions he or she can take to better prepare.

In many cases, gifted students find that raw intelligence can easily overcome deficits in some forms of academic preparation. By entering college early, nearly all students will be bypassing some portion of the traditional high school curriculum. Students should not feel overly inhibited if they have not taken the advanced classes typical of the last years of high school since such classes are often repetitious with the first years of college and a highly intelligent and motivated student can often quickly fill in most holes in their education. For instance, students who don’t have the background for major’s level math and science can often take a 1-semester course at a non-major’s level and be up to speed. At the 11^th and 12^thgrade level, even this is rarely necessary, as most gifted students can jump into the introductory major’s sequence quite easily and quickly overcome any deficits. Science and math are very factual and oriented around concrete methods, which the intelligent student will often learn very rapidly, provided that the student is motivated and competent in the related subjects to which they have been exposed.

The hardest academic deficit to overcome is often writing ability. The English language is largely an art that is acquired through practice. Many gifted youngsters do possess above grade level writing and reading proficiencies, but those who aren’t effective, efficient writers when they enter college, often find it is very hard to catch up. The humanities have fewer essential facts and don’t require a particular progression of knowledge and thus students rarely suffer any detrimental knowledge gap from missing high school versions of these classes. What the humanities do require is adequate competency in writing, argumentation, and reading.

The second important criterion for entering college early is maturity, both emotionally and mentally. By their nature, early entrance programs consist of physically immature students and the environment may often hold a hint of rambunctious energy and silliness, but to be successful in college there comes a point where everyone must settle down and get to work. While these programs offer a supportive environment designed to catch people before they mess up too greatly, it is also still a collegiate atmosphere with many freedoms. Managing one’s life and organizing the daily routine are critically important. A good student also needs the basic life skills to independently handle bathing, laundry, procuring regular meals, completing appropriate paperwork, as well as studying, homework and class attendance. In most cases, the students are responsible for making it to class on time, or not. No one will be standing over their shoulder making sure every assignment gets done. Maturity also includes good character and exhibiting honesty and willingness to work with others. Rudeness, cheating, and excessive arrogance simply aren’t desirable qualities in college or anywhere else.

Motivation and focus is an important quality when considering early entrance programs and many admission’s staff will look for this in a potential student. It helps to have a clear goal for why you want to be in college now and what you hope to learn. While there will continue to be a variety of classes available, the amount of time developing a major will be reduced if you have at least some idea of where you want to go. This is not to say that you can’t change your mind. Overall though, having a focus about life will help speed progress and develop a sense of purpose.

In short, early entrance programs are applicable to some of the most intelligent members of any school, provided they have the basic skills a college student needs and the maturity to deal responsibly with adult situations. Good candidates will be students that stand out as exemplary at their current school, and know that they stand out.

The advantages of Early Entrance programs can be divided into two categories. First are the opportunities that naturally arise from being in a college environment, or more specifically entering that environment early since most gifted youngsters would go to college sooner or later. The second class of advantages arise directly from the programs themselves and what they contribute above and beyond merely sending someone to college early.

The advantages of college over high school are vast and numerous, including: great breath and depth of studies, more resources, access to the most knowledgeable people, numerous student organizations, chances to conduct research, and many other sorts of opportunities. However, since most gifted students will go to college, the real question is what are the advantages of going early?

Early college entry has been around long enough to receive attention by education researchers, and such reports have been almost totally positive. A partial research anthology is available from the Davidson Institute. Most of what follows is drawn from upon on my experience and a relatively thorough study of the academic literature.

Gifted students benefit significantly from having access to materials appropriate to their level of intelligence. College reduces the amount of time spent repeating material and on frivolous busy work, and provides a much more rapid pace of learning. Students, who are often bored and under stimulated, won’t express their potential. For many, boredom leads to becoming disengaged and not participating in the school system that doesn’t provide enough stimulation to keep them interested. Lack of independence can be blatantly detrimental to a gifted child. Typically, high schools are very structured programs where students are told where to be, when, and how to learn. College on the other hand often provides students with the ability to learn in a way that is most appropriate to them, and much more freedom regarding how they arrange their lives. A gifted student might do well in whatever environment he is placed, but this does not mean that the environment is well suited to him.

Academically, early entrance students tend to receive a mixtures of A’s and B’s and usually have higher GPAs than the average college student. Compared to the average student they are more likely to complete college, do so in a timely manner, earn more awards while doing so, and are more likely to pursue graduate work. Many of these qualities are directly attributable to the intelligence present among early entrance students. Comparisons to non-accelerated students with comparable intelligence and test scores show similar patterns performance in undergraduate studies, indicating that there are no significant academic deficits associated with bypassing the last several years of high school.

For some the social advantage of jumping into college is at least as great as the academic one. During the course of K-12 education, giftedness and academic success can often (though not always) breed contempt among one’s peer group. Once made the scapegoat and object of ridicule it is a very difficult thing to overcome. It is often easier to escape to a new environment and reinvent oneself than to try and convince others to begin treating you with respect. Critics will argue that gifted children then lose the opportunity of learning how to successfully interact with people of average intelligence. The obvious response to this is that early entrance students are not isolated from the college population and will still develop social and personal skills, except that the population with whom they will be dealing is often more mature and less hurtful than what they may have previously encountered.

While there is a great deal to be said for being able to have a fresh start and being truly challenged academically, there are plenty of reasons to consider early entrance programs even more enticing than just the benefits of being in college at a young age.

Almost every added advantage of an early entrance program can be summed up with: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Even the largest of these programs is far smaller than the campus population on which it resides (excluding the special dynamics of SRC). This provides a natural base of operation and a comfortable place to return to. Staff exists to serve just the relatively small early entrance population and address their unique needs. Bonding is inevitable and often very powerful and long lasting. Students go through an unusual and challenging experience that yields many opportunities to help each other and grow closer. In addition, the support staff often organize and encourage social events among students. Starting out, many students usually take a similar core curriculum, which means they often encounter people they already know in their classes.

Beyond just having other people sharing the experience, it’s important to recognize the quality of the new peer group. In many cases, incoming students have never been in such a large group of their academic and intellectual peers. The acceptance and understanding that this provides can go a long way towards producing a positive growth environment and promoting social skills. Additionally, friendly competition can motivate students to truly perform up to the best of their ability.

The group aspect provides another important advantage. Regardless of what might be promised to a single early admission student, the economics of scale dictate that more resources will be allocated to a group of 20 or more students than to a single one. This means that early entrance programs often have special staff available, such as college and career advisors, counselors with training in gifted and talented issues, and various people to organize entertaining and/or intellectual activities. These designated programs provide a focus of attention on the campus and the opportunity to attract funding and resources that could not otherwise be realized. Universities that offer early admittance to individuals are right for some, but the larger established programs can offer many advantages not available at the individual level.

The one aspect that I haven’t discussed here is how these programs can fit into life goals and long-term plans. This will be discussed below in the question regarding experiences after completing early entrance programs.

The top three reasons why qualified students decide not to attend one of these programs are (in no particular order): friends, sports and band.

Many gifted students feel uncomfortable leaving the safety and security of their already existing circle of friends. This is natural; however, it is important to realize that change is also natural. Most people accept that they will be parted from their friends when they go away to college. Since making new friendships is all but certain in the early entrance environment, there is no need to worry about not having any friends. Programs often encourage maintaining pre-existing friendships wherever feasible to do so. Concerns about losing and maintaining friendships are important but care should be taken that they not be given undue weight given the potential advantages.

Young students aren’t generally competitive athletes in a college setting. NCAA age restrictions and program rules may prevent students from even trying to play in competitive college sports. Students can usually participate in club teams and pick up games in campus recreation centers, but if you are serious about sports it is probably best to stay in your normal school. At least one program (EEP) has allowed student athletes to play on their previous high school’s teams provided the time and transportation conflicts can be managed, but don’t count on such a solution existing.

Only a few early entrance students are good enough to qualify for a university level band, and program restrictions may not allow you the time to participate. Students are encouraged to pursue music if it interests them and college music classes are accessible, but do not expect to replicate the band experience while in an early entrance program.

While probably a minor disadvantage, it should be noted that being in an early entrance program is not always conducive to a healthy world view. While attending these programs, a danger exists that feelings of intellectual elitism will develop. This is especially likely in larger programs where it is reasonably possible for a student to insulate his social life from the rest of the campus. Ordinarily students have enough interactions through the mixed classes and participating in campus clubs and events that they don’t have trouble developing skills to deal with average college students, but some choose not to pursue these interactions. While not generally a reason to avoid one of these programs, it is something to watch for and make sure that students’ attitudes are reasonable and do not become exclusionary.

A few people also find that the transportation issues involved present a significant problem. Programs specializing in the very youngest students are generally not residential and require some form of continuous commuting arrangement. Several of the residential programs stress that spending time at home is important to student well-being and mandate that some time each month (usually one weekend) be spent away from the program. When distance is a serious concern, students may be allowed to spent time with a “host family” belonging to another student. In any case, program housing is rarely available over major holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, Summer) and students may be too young to arrange suitable interim housing.

Ultimately though, the biggest disadvantage of being in an early entrance program is not actually something you lose by being there, but rather the price of failure. As gifted as these students are, the best success rates among two-year programs is still only between 80-90%. The biggest reason for failure is immaturity, leading either to expulsion for rule violations or academic failure due to poor time management and inability to keep a handle on course requirements. The second biggest reason for failure is lack of appropriate intellectual or academic skills. Good efforts are made to select only the best students, who are capable of performing at a collegiate level despite their tender age, but sometimes mistakes are made. Despite his or her best efforts, not every gifted student is capable of handling college years ahead of the traditional starting age.

Leaving one of these programs, in addition to being a blow to the ego of an otherwise successful student, results in the obvious question of where does one go? There are essentially two options. Either a student returns to school at a level near where they left, or they enter some form of college, often at the local or community college level. Neither solution is really satisfactory. Returning to one’s previous school can often result in humiliation and certainly results in being out of sync with people of the same grade level. It is hard to accommodate credit already earned and the loss of freedoms and relatively slow pace can be quite depressing. Students who instead choose to enter a different college are often forced to deal with many of the same problems that caused them to fail once already. This also frequently means limiting one’s immediate options to community or local colleges and living at home. In either case, the failure can have long term impacts on a student’s academic future, leading to a lower quality college education than they might otherwise have expected prior to the abortive early entrance attempt. The consequences of failure can be lasting and dramatic, and early troubles at an early entrance program should not be ignored.

Another disadvantage is the stress. Before jumping into college, many of these students have found education to be a slow and easy exercise. They are used to getting A’s without a lot of exertion. Suddenly they have to actively keep up and most will find B’s as well as A’s on their records, despite their best efforts. Staying competitive and living up to their internalized idea of how well they should be doing is often stressful, though for the vast majority this stress is manageable.

It should noted that the combination of stress and immaturity can occasionally have disastrous consequences. For some people this can lead to making very foolish and potentially self-destructive decisions. In severe cases, the stress of early entrance can lead to the onset of mental illness, especially in people with pre-existing mental vulnerabilities. It is not without cause that several programs have psychologists on staff.

Issues dealing with typical high school experiences (prom, graduation, etc) are discussed below in a specific question addressed to that. The advantages and disadvantages resulting from having completed an early entrance program also receive their only topic heading below.

To the parents: These programs are not only as safe as the college they are affiliated with, but typically they are significantly safer. Often there are access restrictions limiting dorm space and program facilities to students, their guests and appropriate staff. Besides that, the size of the programs mean that everyone recognizes everyone else on sight anyway, so someone that doesn’t belong will stick out like a sore thumb. Young students in these programs are only very rarely signaled out as targets, and when they are it doesn’t last long. The universities actively support these programs (in part because they make for good publicity), and when evidence of age bias is presented, perpetrators can often find themselves nailed to the wall by the highest levels of administration. That said, the only reason to be more afraid to send your 15 or 16-year-old to one of these programs than you would be to send an 18-year-old to the same college, is that you don’t trust your own kid to act responsibly. Shame on you.

However, if in fact, you have good reason to believe your son or daughter isn’t sufficiently mature to guide their own life, then accelerating them into college is not the way to go. Maturity is important, and 9 times out of 10, whatever major trouble your child has caused at home, he or she will get into bigger trouble by entering one of these programs. Similarly, untreated or uncontrollable mental illness is a very large, legitimate red flag against accelerated college studies.

If on the other hand you are just being paranoid, then back off. Let your child make a few little mistakes and learn from them, it won’t hurt anything in the long run. I have personally known numerous people who went away to college early and then were put under considerable added stress because their parents were paranoid and wouldn’t let go. Adjusting to college is naturally stressful and they will need some support from you, but they don’t need you to create additional anxiety in their lives.

In short, any student that goes off to college will be presented with situations where they will be called upon to make responsible moral choices. There comes a point in every parent’s life when they must trust that they have raised their child to make the right choices.

Many potential applicants and their families are concerned with missing out on experiences like prom, graduation, class rings, homecoming, etc. There are essentially three types of responses to these concerns.

The programs for the youngest students (EEP, TS/EEP, PEG) largely ignore them since their students are essentially skipping all of high school to begin with and the emphasis is placed on forming a sense of identity within the college environment. (Though TS/EEP does in fact have a prom for its students.)

Some of the other programs encourage students to participate in activities at their original schools. Allowances are made for students to travel to prom and they may arrange to get a high school diploma and participate in graduation with that school.

The third strategy is to replicate the trappings and sense of solidarity of a high school within the early entrance community itself. Larger programs can afford to recreate things like prom, class rings, and fancy graduation ceremonies.

The people running these programs want their students to be happy, and part of this is making sure they don’t regret leaving high school. Successful programs facilitate their students in creating the kinds of activities they desire to have. It’s important to remember that these students will have experiences that are unique to them and the environment they are in. A number of early entrance programs have already created a rich set of their own traditions. However, if you are concerned about specific kinds of activities ask whether they exist, and if not, whether you can help create them.

The average high school student will spend something approaching 40 hours a week in school, and 10-20 hours on homework. By comparison the average college student spends between 15 and 20 hours in classes during a given week, often with classes only meeting 2 or 3 days per week. In theory, the extra time allows for college students to have more time for studying and homework. In practice it just means that college students get extra free time. High school is hard work and often has many hours of work per night and over the weekend. College involves a lot of hard work as well, but it would be unusual that the amount of work grows to such a proportion that gifted students need much more than the 20+ hours a week they’ve already been granted by decreased class time.

Homework generally takes one of three forms: reading/research, writing, or working problems sets. Problem sets are a feature of math and science classes and may or may not be graded depending on the policy of the instructor. Except for the strongly math and science oriented students, reading and studying for classes should take up the bulk of one’s time. In most classes, students are responsible for the material in the book even if not explicitly covered in lecture. College classes cover the more material in less time than high school and actively avoid wasting time. As a consequence of this, assignments will rarely ever be busy work. Students don’t need to waste their time and faculty don’t want to be bothered grading it either. In fact, classes that don’t have regular problem sets (usually weekly) or regular quizzes may have very few grades in a semester. It is not uncommon to have as few as 5 or 6 grades in a semester nor for an individual grade to comprise 25-30% of the total. This makes it quite important to test well, and often a lot of studying/cramming gets put into the last day or two before hand. Of course, with the AP program one receives college credit entirely based on a single test so in this regard it is not all that different.

Obviously the drawback is that with only infrequent, all-important testing, the student has to be able to manage the time in between and keep up. Often students aren’t given specific instructions on what to be doing or when, and have to create their own timetable and methods for learning the material. This suits the majority of gifted kids quite well as they tend to be aware of what they know and what they don’t, and can organize sufficiently to learn what they need to.

The college process of learning is faster, less structured and more independent. Typically there is less time spent doing graded school work, and that which is done is more rewarding because it generally serves a clear purpose. The expectations as to quality are often comparable with the most advanced high school classes. In other words both AP teachers and college professors expect flawless writing and consistently correct answers to math and science. The differences are in method, pacing, independence, and ultimately depth. College professors rarely make their living by teaching; more often than not, they are dependant on research for their professional success and thus maintain a deep cutting-edge knowledge of their subject matter.

AP/IB classes can allow one to skip some classes by demonstrating knowledge of the same fundamentals that introductory classes cover. Either way the same material is taught, but the techniques and methods of college are more suitable to some gifted youngsters, especially if they are already taking advanced classes all across the board.

The experience after completing an early entrance program depends critically on the type of program involved. Students completing programs that lead to a Bachelor’s degree may well find a more consistent response to their accomplishments, because graduate schools and employers understand what this degree represents. These programs are as long as a normal college undergraduate education and have the same opportunities to develop good coursework, research experience and other accomplishments that would contribute to anyone’s success after college.

Early entrance students do well academically on average (mixed A/B averages typically), and tend to be very active in research and campus activities. This leaves them well prepared to pursue higher education, and many do go straight into graduate school, including many of the top schools. The lesson here is that getting a bachelors from one of these programs isn’t a free ride, but being in the program provides many opportunities which, when taken advantage of, can lead to a competitive advantage later in life.

The shorter programs that are designed for transferring after a couple years produce similar results but are bit more complicated. It is basically assumed that 100% of graduates will go on to some college, but applying is a more complicated issue. For starters one must decide whether to apply as a freshman or a transfer student. Freshmen have substantially more options for financial aid (including 3rd party scholarships) and special programs at many institutions, but they also often have earlier application deadlines, more complicated applications, and may be limited in the number of transferred college credits they can apply towards their degree. Students who apply as freshmen may also be treated as freshmen with regards to registration, housing, parking and other issues, which may or may not leave them in a position which is more desirable than being a transfer student. Transfer students may have easier applications that focus more on course work completed, as well as, having better odds of being treated in a way appropriate to students already experienced with a college environment.

Some schools have explicit categories for who should use what kind of application. For instance, in some places the overriding principle is whether you will earn a high school diploma in the months prior to when you plan to attend, which automatically classes you as a freshman. Never mind that in some of these programs students can earn a high school diploma only after having earned two full years of college credit. Other universities define anyone having more than a year’s worth of transferable (non-AP/IB) credit as being a transfer student. The important thing to do is to research the relevant rules and how the different status classifications would affect you and then choose the one that is more desirable.

Regardless of whether applying as freshman or transfer it is a very good idea to include documentation regarding the program you are currently in. These programs are quite special and they speak well of the students in them, so it may help distinguish you from the crowd. More important however, the admissions staff needs to be able to understand what you have been doing the last several years. Admissions staff aren’t expecting large amounts of college courses from people that only recently (if ever) earned a high school diploma, and they are expecting to see AP/IB courses, which are typically absent since taking college courses negates the need to test for credit. Most reviewers can learn to handle this well with the right documentation. Larger older programs have an advantage in that they have an established reputation and recruiters may already know what level of quality to expect.

Quality is in fact the right word, because students from early entrance programs often have a rather absurd competitive advantage when compared to high school seniors, and a good advantage over transfer students. They have demonstrated successfully being able to handle the college environment, and present recommendations from college professors and even research associates. College has provided them with more opportunities for leadership and extracurriculars that demonstrate desirable skills not found in band or sports.

Some universities (especially those in the same geographic area as the early entrance program) may actively recruit students. This includes seeking them out, offering major/full scholarships, automatic acceptance, privileged housing or registration status and other perks. The best schools in the country are typically not that generous but they do accept early entrance grads quite often. Lists of graduates’ destinations often look like a what’s what of the best universities in the country (for instance, each of Harvard, Caltech, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell are typically represented among every graduating class for the larger programs). Good students who do well in these programs and take advantage of the opportunities they provide will continue on to good colleges, it is as simple as that.

After they arrive at other colleges it can get a bit complicated. Universities may accept anywhere from all to none of the credits already earned. Most will accept around 80%, with only a few going below 50%. The most prestigious colleges are often the most reluctant to give credit for work done at other “inferior” universities. Almost all universities will have some policy (though possibly an obscure one) allowing students to earn credit by testing for it, and this is often a saving recourse for students who wish to avoid retaking course work which a university is refusing to transfer. After having completed the transferring process, most students find that integrating into a new set of major and core requirements is not quite seamless. Typically each year of early entrance puts a student about a half year ahead of peers just out of high school. For instance the majority of students having completed a 2-year program will finish their undergraduate degrees after an additional 3 years, as opposed to the 4 years usually intended. Some students do graduate after only 2 (or fewer) additional years in college and a few may take a full 4 additional years.

In addition to the academic concerns, it should be noted that there is another kind of impact that comes from departing one of these programs. Most students experience feelings of depression after being separated from the supportive peer environment and so many close friends. This is quite understandable and natural to an extent, and most students assert their independence and move on with life. However, a small percentage of students fall into a depression, which could be classed as severe and justifying of medical attention. This is something that needs to be watched for as it can have a decidedly negative impact on adjustment and success, not to mention general quality of life. Special attention should be given to people with a history or other risk factors of depression. Being treated as a freshman (particularly when it translated to being housed with students just out of high school) exacerbates this problem. Many programs have a number of ceremonies and rituals leading up to and including graduation, which help to prepare people for the reality of the transition. Also programs that decrease the amount of support structure tending towards total independence can make the change less abrupt.

Beyond temporary sadness at leaving the environment they care for, students also come away with valuable life skills and experience. They have made in through the first year or more of college and have done so under more enriching conditions than typical undergrads. During this time many of them will have developed skills, friendships, time management abilities and life direction. Many of them will be well ahead of high school peers in terms of planning for the future and knowing how to accomplish those plans. Also the experience provides them an advantage when it comes to avoiding the pitfalls of college, as they have already demonstrated the ability to survive in that environment.

Basically the gist of life after early entrance is that you are forever having to explain what the program was all about, but once you do most people will find it interesting, and people who judge a student’s academic fitness often find it really attractive. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find people that truly understand what the experience is about from an insider’s perspective, which while frustrating also encourages maintaining friendships made within the program. Graduates who take advantage of the program and do well are in fact well ahead of the curve, in more ways than just age.

As shown in the Comparison Chart, there is considerable difference in pricing between programs from over $30,000 all the way down to $0. These programs support full-time college study and many are priced accordingly. The prices listed include any automatic scholarships given to accepted students and typically cover tuition, housing (where applicable), and the most common meal plan. They may or may not cover books, TV service, computer networking fees and other incidental items. Families are responsible for covering any transportation costs and shipping associated with attending the program.

The cheapest residential programs typically receive some substantial state subsidies. This is often justified by classing them as an alternative form of public high school education. These funds are primarily available to the high school replacement programs where there is emphasis on receiving a high school diploma and proceeding to other undergraduate institutions. Please refer to the question regarding experiences after completing an early entrance program for more information on continuing education following such a program.

Since students are pursuing college work full-time they typically qualify to apply for most forms of need-based financial id. This includes aid associated with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). However age and program requirements may prevent a student from accepting some forms of work-study aid. Also some need-based aid may require special testing to demonstrate college preparedness since applicants lack a high school diploma. If cost is a limiting factor in your ability to attend early entrance, then talk to program staff, they have experience knowing what is available in the way of financial aid.

Merit based aid can be more problematic. Many of the programs themselves and the universities sponsoring them may offer some kind of merit-based aid applicable to young students, but finding third party aid is most difficult. Organizations that give merit scholarships to entering freshmen aren’t generally equipped to understand the notion of going to college early and without a high school diploma. Additionally young students are often at a disadvantage by not having had the extra years to accumulate the accolades and course work that many scholarship providers instinctively look for. With regards to programs that are intended to generate a high school diploma rather than a bachelor’s degree, it may well make more sense to wait and apply for merit aid after completing the high school degree. Again, program staff are most familiar on these aspects and should be available to advise you on the possibilities.

For a variety of reasons, not everyone feels that jumping fully into college at a younger than normal age is appropriate for them. Thankfully, a variety of alternatives have been developed during the last half century so that gifted students can find options that meet their needs.

The most ubiquitous method of getting ahead is the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. While AP is more common in the US, both systems consist of a variety of tests that students may take during high school in order to demonstrate mastery of college level material. Depending on the score received, most colleges will award a variety of low level credit equivalent to the knowledge demonstrated. Many high schools now offer “AP classes” designed to prepare students for AP exams. Though students are highly encouraged to participate in such a class before attempting an AP exam, they are not required to do so. AP and IB exams must be administered at proscribed times and under controlled conditions, so students who wish to take a test without having had an associated class, should discuss the matter with school officials well in advance of the test date to make sure that appropriate arrangements can be made. Because of these test for credit programs, it is not uncommon for students to be awarded 3-10 credits upon entering college. In rare cases though, some students have been known to take tests equivalent to several dozen credits of work.

While test based programs provide the opportunity to bring college work into the high school, most other forms of academic enrichment at the high school level deal with ways that students might participate in a small number of college classes prior to graduation. Students who aren’t yet ready to jump full-time into college can often arrange to take classes either during the summer or through arrangements that work around the school day. The National Association for Gifted Children maintains a list of summer and enrichment programs, including a number of college opportunities for young students. The Educational Opportunity Guide ($15) published by the Duke Talent Identification Program is also an excellent resources for finding academic challenges for gifted students.

For students looking to fit college classes into their school day, the Get Out of Jail Free section of the Raven Days site lists a large number of colleges and universities that have established dual/concurrent enrollment programs. Students who participate in such programs generally go to high school for part of their school day and attend 1 or 2 college classes during the rest of the day. In this way they can begin earning college credits while finishing high school graduation requirements. This same web resource also has listings for colleges who will admit students full-time even if they have not yet graduated from high school. Such admission is different from the programs discussed by this website in that students are admitted individually and will generally receive little or no additional support from the college.

Lastly, many states have policies that allow students to take tests to demonstrate knowledge of high school subject matter. Such tests may allow a student to recieve credit towards graduation without actually having to sit through the associated class. In some cases, tests may be offered that allow a student to immediately qualify for a full high school diploma. [Such a diploma is not a GED, the well-known GED program is applicable only to adults (over age 16), who are not currently enrolled in high school.] By taking tests and/or summer school classes, dedicated students can often graduate from high school in 3 (or fewer) years and thus move more quickly into the more advanced work that colleges offer. High school testing programs are often not well publicized, and may not even be known to high school guidance counselors. In some cases, testing can only be conducted on certain dates or at specific location(s), such as the state’s Department of Education headquarters, and students and their families are responsible for making the appropriate arrangements.

Families interested in academic enrichment for gifted youth are encouraged to take standardized tests, such as the SAT or ACT, every one or two years starting in the 7^th grade. Many programs consider standardized test scores as an essential measure of academic preparedness. Students who earn scores at or above those of graduating high schools seniors are probably capable of entertaining a variety of college level material, regardless of their actual age.