There's not a lot of advice that I would find myself giving to high school students. I think that everyone has their own journey and experience during their four years, and it's hard to give anything but vague advice because of that. But from my own recent experience, I realized that the one thing that can be true for almost all high school students is the opportunity to get ahead in college, and even graduate early.
Just two weeks ago, in attempt to vote in the student government elections at Suffolk, I found out that I had enough credits where I was being considered a junior instead of a sophomore. And upon further research into my program evaluation, I learned that I did in fact have enough credits to be considered a first semester junior, even though I had only taken the amount of classes required each semester, and did not participate in summer courses. At first I was shocked, and slightly confused as to how I could be a full semester ahead until I remembered the choices I had made in high school.
During my four years at Goffstown High School, I took three Advanced Placement (AP) classes, two my junior year and one my senior year. I took AP Language and Composition, AP US History, and AP Literature. My high school also offered "Running Start" courses, where you could take classes in the high school and upgrade them to be taken through the local community college. I took three of those between my junior and senior year as well. And it was because of these credits that I was so far ahead in college.
It costs $93 to take an AP exam, and at my high school, it took $90 for each Running Start course. And because I took all my AP exams, and got a 4 out of 5 on my AP US History exam, I had been exempt from a history class in college. And had I known the effect it would have had on my credits in college, I would've 100% tried harder to get a 4 out of 5 or better on my two AP English exams instead of just 3's (Suffolk only accepts a 4 or 5, but some colleges do accept 3's). And because I had taken two business Running Start classes, I had already taken two of my free electives at Suffolk. The best part was taking the Running Start Anatomy & Physiology class my senior year, because it filled my credit requirement for a science class and coordinating lab practical!
I know that not all high school's offer Running Start classes, but most offer many options for Advanced Placement. And costing about 90$ for a college credit can save you up to $50,000 in a years of tuition (like it has for me), which is the definition of a bargain, and even better, something I won't be spending years of my life paying off in loans. Because I challenged myself in high school, I can now (with only having two add two summer courses) graduate a whole year early! If you're in high school, and you can, take the AP class, challenge yourself, and you could end up walking away with less debt than you imagined in your college years!
