Skipping last 2 years of HS

[malcontent]

For those who might be interested…

Our daughter completed her local school education and received her A-level results in Feb this year. She will start at a top university in the US next month at age 19. She should get almost 1 year of credit for her 4 x H2 courses.

Our son completed grade 10 at SAS this past June and we did not reenroll him for grade 11. Last week he took a high school proficiency exam and passed, making him legally a HS graduate. He will start community college in the US next month at age 16, and will likely transfer to a top university from there.

I know this path for our son is unorthodox, but our daughter could have done the same after she completed secondary school and skipped JC. This would have put her years ahead of where she is today, and it would have been a lot easier. It’s worth noting that even IP students get a secondary school graduation certificate, which is considered a HS diploma and accepted by many colleges as such.

Now, both my son and daughter will be considered class of 2028, even though they are 3 years apart. How crazy is that?

[NYY1]

For those who might be interested…

Our daughter completed her local school education and received her A-level results in Feb this year. She will start at a top university in the US next month at age 19. She should get almost 1 year of credit for her 4 x H2 courses.

Our son completed grade 10 at SAS this past June and we did not reenroll him for grade 11. Last week he took a high school proficiency exam and passed, making him legally a HS graduate. He will start community college in the US next month at age 16, and will likely transfer to a top university from there.

I know this path for our son is unorthodox, but our daughter could have done the same after she completed secondary school and skipped JC. This would have put her years ahead of where she is today, and it would have been a lot easier. It’s worth noting that even IP students get a secondary school graduation certificate, which is considered a HS diploma and accepted by many colleges as such.

Now, both my son and daughter will be considered class of 2028, even though they are 3 years apart. How crazy is that?

Congrats!

Keep in mind that the unconditional probabilities (general admit rates) only mean so much. What matters is how the applicant stacks up against the rest of the pool (or the slice of the pool most similar to him/her). In this case, it probably isn't any worse, but there are some scenarios where it may not be much better, despite the higher headline rate.

Also, transfers applications may weight components a bit differently. The general academic/non-academic components will still be there. However, if the transfer is for Year 3, I'd think most students would be applying for a specific major then. Hence, certain courses relevant to the major and other related activities may carry a bit more weight.

Anyways, I'm sure your kid will do well. If there is a target/goal to work towards, all the better. Good luck!

[PNGMK]

As you (Mal) and I have discussed I have now encountered wealthy Singaporeans skipping A levels, IP and IB altogether in order to send their sons (in particular) to another country for college after they have done their O levels. This allows their sons to complete a 3 or 4 year degree before enrolling in NS {informally CMPB are allowing deferrals at 19 for those in degree programs overseas} which gives them a significant advantage in entering the work force or for post grade studies at ~22 compared to other Singaporean boys who, via either poly or A levels, leave NS with no degree. For those who go onto Uni they may not enter the work force until their late 20's which is completely unacceptable in my view.

On Sunday at church I ran into a friend who moved her two children to the UK while they were in secondary school in order to speed up their schooling. Her son is now part way through medicine and the other child just about ready to enter the Uni system. I don't think her solution is as fast as the one above (because you need to do A levels to go to Uni in the UK).

I plan to do the same with my daughter - she will travel to the USA in late 2026 once she has finished her O levels at 16 - she will enter college/Uni/Community College in 2027 and should graduate by about 20 or 21. If she stayed her she'd be into JC and not enter NUS until she was almost 19 and then would not graduate until her mid 20s. She will have a much wider range of schools and faculties to choose from in the USA.

[Swn4]

Just a thought from someone went to university after 9 mths of JC1 at Hwa Chong (admittedly in the mid ‘80s)…
It was not a problem academically at all but it was not always easy being 17 when your fellow classmates are >=19. Especially since I’d had 10 yrs of all girl school.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wd40]

Now, both my son and daughter will be considered class of 2028, even though they are 3 years apart. How crazy is that?

How is that even possible? Your son totally skips junior college? Wont he be too young to start university at such a young age? Also that means he can enter the workforce at the age of 19?

[malcontent]

Now, both my son and daughter will be considered class of 2028, even though they are 3 years apart. How crazy is that?

How is that even possible? Your son totally skips junior college? Wont he be too young to start university at such a young age? Also that means he can enter the workforce at the age of 19?

He has a cousin who just turned 16 and is doing O-levels now… he is going to follow the same path.

This cousin was born in the US (citizen) and on a DP, so he was looking at JC school fees next year of $2400/mo, which is far more than community college in California, even for nonresidents. This will save money and time, because 2 years in JC here earns less than 1 year of college credits in US. My daughter is getting credits representing about 3/4 of 1 year, and some of those credits are not class specific, so less valuable.

Everyone should know that this is not some new hack, my wife did the exact same thing back in 1989, skipped A-levels here and went straight to college in the US. It is honestly a better path for most, unless you are straight-A student with an impressive resume of nonacademic achievements… in that case, you can almost write your own ticket.

[NYY1]

I'm not sure why parents are so eager to have their kids graduate / start working earlier. I kind of get it if one thinks the alternative route is both easier (workload) and a better chance for certain schools (if that's the main objective). Maybe even more so if you are ending up in the same (desired) spot.

For me, I would rather have my child finish Year 11 and Year 12, either in JC here or a US HS (if a resident), and then go to university. Some of these reasons are academic related and others are not.

Either way, everyone can do what they think is best for their child, and any/all routes should be respected.

[malcontent]

It definitely depends on the kid.

I think the main disadvantage to leaving HS early is social. However, in my son’s case (and his cousin’s), he is not valedictorian, class president, or holding any other special social status.

My son limits his engagement with school to what is necessary to get a decent grade, and that is it. I can’t blame him, because I approached school in a similar way.

With that in mind, it really makes no difference whether he attends HS or college, and he has said as much himself. My daughter is a different story.

Don’t get me wrong, we are not in a hurry to have him graduate and enter the workforce, that is just a byproduct of this path, not a goal.

[Wd40]

It definitely depends on the kid.

I think the main disadvantage to leaving HS early is social. However, in my son’s case (and his cousin’s), he is not valedictorian, class president, or holding any other special social status.

My son limits his engagement with school to what is necessary to get a decent grade, and that is it. I can’t blame him, because I approached school in a similar way.

With that in mind, it really makes no difference whether he attends HS or college, and he has said as much himself. My daughter is a different story.

Don’t get me wrong, we are not in a hurry to have him graduate and enter the workforce, that is just a byproduct of this path, not a goal.

Thanks for providing the perspective. I just want to know the mechanics of it. So if student A goes through JC and then University X and a student B finishes O level and then goes to US community college and after 2 years goes straight to the same university X into year 3, such that both student A and student B are classmates; I just wonder will both student A and B able to do equally well?

I ask this question, even more so because you mentioned both your son and son's cousin were not that academically oriented, then how will they be able to cope up with the university subjects?

[malcontent]

Thanks for providing the perspective. I just want to know the mechanics of it. So if student A goes through JC and then University X and a student B finishes O level and then goes to US community college and after 2 years goes straight to the same university X into year 3, such that both student A and student B are classmates; I just wonder will both student A and B able to do equally well?

I guess we’ll find out when/if my son transfers into UCLA in 2 years. I personally think they have near equal chances of doing equally well, my son could even exceed my daughter if he really puts his mind to it. I think you really have to know your kid. My son is very mature for a 16yo, and he is also very smart. He just lacks discipline, which my daughter has plenty of.

I ask this question, even more so because you mentioned both your son and son's cousin were not that academically oriented, then how will they be able to cope up with the university subjects?

I think a more accurate way to describe my son is not academically motivated. He is academically capable. He took advanced Chemistry and Trigonometry last year and it was fairly easy As for him. He also took college level (AP) art, which he didn’t even have to try and got an A (he could have taught the class).

[PNGMK]

I'm not sure why parents are so eager to have their kids graduate / start working earlier. I kind of get it if one thinks the alternative route is both easier (workload) and a better chance for certain schools (if that's the main objective). Maybe even more so if you are ending up in the same (desired) spot.

For me, I would rather have my child finish Year 11 and Year 12, either in JC here or a US HS (if a resident), and then go to university. Some of these reasons are academic related and others are not.

Either way, everyone can do what they think is best for their child, and any/all routes should be respected.

If you're older parents (as we are, we adopted our doter at 45 when she was a baby) you want to compress schooling in order to help your kid become independent before you retire / die.

[smoulder]

I'm not sure why parents are so eager to have their kids graduate / start working earlier. I kind of get it if one thinks the alternative route is both easier (workload) and a better chance for certain schools (if that's the main objective). Maybe even more so if you are ending up in the same (desired) spot.

For me, I would rather have my child finish Year 11 and Year 12, either in JC here or a US HS (if a resident), and then go to university. Some of these reasons are academic related and others are not.

Either way, everyone can do what they think is best for their child, and any/all routes should be respected.

If you're older parents (as we are, we adopted our doter at 45 when she was a baby) you want to compress schooling in order to help your kid become independent before you retire / die.

Wow, that's something I hadn't considered. We are almost in the same boat. We adopted our daughter at 41. She was about a month old when she came home with us.