3 of 7

Write now Article Tools

Being the daughter of a college professor, I began taking college classes in the summer after my sophomore year in high school. Living in a small college town, other professor's kids were doing the same. I continued to take college courses, either at the university or through Advanced Placement classes in my high school until I officially entered college after my senior year in high school as Sophomore in Engineering. The interesting part of this was that I was very active in high school. I played two varsity sports, was involved in the student body and also worked part time. Luckily enough, I was able to balance all of these activities and still find time to have fun with my friends on the weekend. My experience has lead me to believe that there are both pros and cons to pursuing college studies at a younger age.

The benefits of pursuing college early were primarily that I had completed a year of course work by the time that I started college and I had the confidence to know that I could be successful in college. Having completed most of my Calculus and Chemistry as well as other classes prior to beginning college, I was well on my way to my engineering degree. I also felt that I used my time constructively, well, at least for the most part. In the end, was able to graduate from college early because of the course work I had taken early on.

There were a number of minuses associated with pursing college early. One was that I did not have the maturity level to recognize the amount and type of studying that was required in these courses. In high school, I did not work many, if any, extra homework questions. Also, I did not need to prepare much for tests in high school, and this lack of knowledge left me unprepared in some of my early classes in college. Having some type-A characteristics, there was a pressure associated with performing well in these courses early on. I had a basic assumption that college courses should be similar to high school courses and did not realize that the course load would be more challenging. Also, although I was able to balance my high school and college workload, I did find that it could lead to additional stress in trying to maintain both areas of my life. Most other kids had more free time than I did which didn't allow for much downtime.

To me, the moral of this experience is this: If you are capable of taking college courses early and wish to do so, I would recommend it. However, I would also recommend that you do so in moderation and enjoy your time being young.

Learn more about this author, Dee Dee Tillman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about College studies for younger students: Success and failure stories?
We want to hear your view. Write now!