did you stay in high school until you were 21?

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if so was it helpful? did you do the transition program? did it teach you anything? did you get a regular diploma

I dropped out when I was 19 and doing my second year of Grade 12. Just as well, I was already feeling too "old" for high school back when I was 18. Too old for high school, too young for adult life, that's how I feel.

For the record, even though a lot of people around here spend an extra year after graduation, in my case I never actually graduated, and I was taking an extra year in what was originally going to be an attempt at gaining the extra credits I would need to graduate. That plan didn't really work out though, as I started going through a really dark, neurotic, depressed period where I spent a lot of time isolating myself in my room, and as a result my school attendance dropped to the point where it was an incredibly rare sight to see me at school, let alone in class. During some of my time in isolation, I did do a few correspondence courses, though I only ever finished a couple.

Last edited by mr_bigmouth_502 on 21 Apr 2014, 12:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

No, I finished at 18.

I dropped out at age 13. One thing I learned right away is all of this crap about stay in school, people will check your school records, all that crap, was just crap. No one ever asked to see any HS diploma. Back then no one even asked anything about school. I was working in factories at age 15. They didn't even ask for an ID back in 1971. Now of course, people seem to want a college degree even for the most simple of jobs, even if what you went to college for is irrelevant to the job you are doing. And you don't necessarily need to have a HS diploma to go to college. You don't even have to take an SAT to go to college. Unless my experiences are not normal. As long as I have been able to pay for the classes and pass a few tests so they could place me I have never had a problem enrolling in a university.

Graduated at 18!

Graduated at 17.(birthday is after graduation). People thought I would have to do year 12 over 2 years but that was not the case. I wanted to get school over and done with.

I was able to graduate on time at 17 due to the accommodation they gave me(basically letting me stay at home), I don't really feel like I deserved to but I did. They did not help me with the transition at all.

Nope graduated on time for high school and bachelor's, did take me longer than necessary to get the master's degree.

I started preschool when I was almost 3, then started school when I was 4. I finished school at 16, and stayed on in the sixth form for a year, then after that I went to college, and left college when I was almost 18. Then was unemployed until I was 22 (I did volunteering and also took some skills courses in that time), then got a job when I was 22, and still in the job now.

1. if you are taking a college class and paying for it out of pocket, say at a community college, they really don't care where you are coming from so to speak. they want your $$

2. OTOH, if you are applying to college into a degree program and will be getting any financial assistance from the federal/state govt or the school, then they absolutely want to try to assure that you are better up to the task because schools don't like to give grant/scholarship $$ (school money) to people who aren't going to be able to do the work.

3. if you drop out of college you still owe back any federal/state/private loans

4. yes, some schools (in USA) don't require standardized tests. I know standardized tests get a bad 'rap'.
but something like 20% of college freshmen need remedial classes (in reading/math).

5. in the 21st century, in the USA, if you don't have at least a high school diploma, your job options are very limited (unless youu don't mind making very low wages). Of course you could teach yourself to code or do other some of tech work and get a job with your awesome tech skills, but that is NOT what happens to most people who either don't or just barely finish school.

even if they made minimum wage $15, nobody is going to get rich on that.

Never even heard of such things.

Never heard of a 21 year HS student, nor of someone "dropping out" AFTER the age you're supposed to graduate at 18.

Here you only graduate once you get the required 100 credits. Doesn't matter if you're 17, 18, 19, 20, or even 21.

if you're in special ed, you can stay until you're 21

I did not; graduated at 19 which is the normal age where I am from. That said, there are those who graduate later, for example people who started school later due to being immigrants without language skills.

In general, I see no problem graduating high school at 21 or entering college in your late 20s or in your 30s. The whole point of education is to learn for life. If you just rush through education, memorising for exams, etc. just in order to graduate as young as possible to get a job, you are taking the wrong approach. I have heard from many professors as well as employers that some of the best students and graduates they encountered were those who were older than their class peers. The reason why is that they tend to be mature and to pursue education out of choice and interest as opposed to being pushed by prestige-seeking parents.

If you are allowed to stay in high school until you are 21 and if you think you would benefit from it, then by all means, do it.

It's a totally different world now.

If you're going to drop out and succeed now, you'd better be very smart, highly entrepreneurial, and able to build and run a successful business. Otherwise you're in real trouble.

Universities are also much antsier about entrance requirements than they used to be, because their graduation and placement rates are being watched carefully. The student debt load is through the roof, and people want to know what they're getting for the money, also the feds are looking forward to having a say in higher ed curricula. Unless you're coming in as a continuing-ed student, which means you're not in a degree program, you will probably have trouble enrolling without a GED/diploma/test scores. They don't want students on the books who're going to drop out without graduating, it looks bad. And, as I mentioned elsewhere, the new GED is tougher than the old, also more expensive.

Dropped out at 19. If I finished school, I would have been 20. Also, do you know why people say things like, "If you don't finish HS, you won't succeed in life."? It's because statistically, those who don't finish high school have a lower percentage of college/training enrollment. Because of this, they naturally make a lower wage because of the jobs available to them. I got my GED at 19. I will be attending college this Fall. I'm intelligent enough to go to medical school if I wanted to. If someone asks about my HS diploma after I've been through college, they aren't worth my time.