Freshman year, sophomore, junior, senior year. What if there was a way for students to be released from the so-called ‘four-year sentence’ earlier? An alternative pathway high schoolers can choose to take is graduating early: deciding to finish school by the end of junior year or by the end of the first senior year semester.
According to counselor Tiffany Heinlein, as long as the student has the 22 credits required to graduate in the state of Illinois, it is possible to graduate one year or one semester early.
Heinlein also explained that graduating early does not necessarily require extra work or summer school. It all depends on a student’s specific situation. It also depends on the student’s intended major and college requirements: will their chosen college require an extra year of science? Will their chosen major at their target school require any specific, year-long AP classes?
If the core requirements are fulfilled, as well as the four credit requirements for English, which can require ‘doubling-up’ by taking two English classes at the same time, students are good to go. The student will need a credit in the Consumer Science area and a Government class, usually taken during the senior year, since these are also graduation requirements. Additionally, Physical Education won’t require ‘doubling-up’, and the four credits won’t need to be fulfilled.
“When you sit and meet with [counselors] for [class] registration, we’ve already reviewed your transcript, so we already know what you need in your schedule,” Counselor Tiffany Heinlein said.
College Resource Center (CRC) counselor Rebecca Bellito explained that there isn’t a specific profile of students who choose to graduate early. The choice might be motivated by financial reasons, personal ambitions, or by wanting something different than the school environment.
“There isn’t a situation where I would necessarily recommend graduating early, because that’s such a personal thing most of the time. It’s something that comes from the student and what] they feel is in their best interest,” Bellito said. “I would say, if a student decides to graduate early, then there are ways for every student to make that a beneficial decision for them.”
A crucial step, however, is to have a plan. That can look like working full time to save money, volunteering, travelling, taking a gap year, or taking classes at the College of Lake County (CLC).
“Having a gap year before starting college is a growing trend — this idea that before you go straight from high school to college, you take a year break,” Bellito said. “There’s some [gap year] programs through the government that are low cost, all the way through private companies where it’s pretty expensive. There’s always a gap year fair every second semester, usually at New Trier High School…they cover all the different options.”
The CRC is always a place students can go to for support, even after graduating early. Bellito explained she’ll work with students on things such as the FAFSA ahead of time, and also connect students looking for work with the College Career Navigator at CLC.
Students can also come back to participate in events such as prom, honors awards, and even walk across the stage during the graduation ceremony.
“The common thread [with seniors graduating a semester early] is that they are okay with not being in the building every day [during] the last semester of high school,” Bellito said. “They’re still able to participate in school events, but they’re missing that day-to-day interaction with peers. It’s something that they have to weigh in with whatever they’re seeking from graduating early.”
Student perspective
Priya Shlimon (12) is one of the students who will be graduating early. Shlimon will graduate by the end of December, one semester earlier than her class.
“I decided to graduate early because I wanted to move on, and [I’m] ready for the next step,” Shlimon said. “I’m a person that is always constantly doing something, or [wants] to keep doing something, so I kind of figured…I’ll just graduate early.”
Shlimon met with her counselor during her junior year, who introduced her to the option of graduating early. They assessed how many credits Shlimon had for graduation and dis- cussed potential senior year schedules.
Shlimon didn’t have to do any extra work over the summer, and the only change to her schedule was having to double up on English classes during her only semester of senior year to meet the graduation requirements.
During her free semester next year, Shlimon plans on working and also taking classes at the College of Lake County. She will then transfer her credits to a four year university. Shlimon believes this will help her save money with college tuition and get a headstart on her college experience.
“I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to come back [to school next semester] because of my workload, and just like, stress. It’s coming to an end, so I’m thankful for that,” Shlimon said. “This is something that I want to do. So I’m okay with it, I’m content. And obviously, [I’ll] stay in touch with people,” Shlimon said.
Alumna experience
Emma Hoffman graduated at the end of her junior year along with the Class of ‘23, a whole year earlier than her peers in the Class of ‘24. Hoffman learned about the opportunity of graduating early from an early graduate in her Sociology class. Hoffman then met with her counselor in the fall of her junior year to confirm whether she had enough credits to graduate early.
“I was really excited at the prospect [of graduating early]. I felt that I could potentially gain some sort of experience that I couldn’t get in another year of high school,” Hoffman said. “I was really just looking for something new and different. I thought it was a special opportunity – and I decided to take advantage of it.”
Hoffman doubled up on English classes by deciding to take both AP Language and Composition and AP Seminar during her junior year, which fulfilled the English graduation requirement. After meeting with her counselor, she decided to take AP Government during her second semester instead of another elective, which helped fulfill all her graduation requirements by the end of junior year.
Additionally, Hoffman took one semester of Personal Finance over summer school after having graduated in May to finalize all graduation requirements and make her diploma official – she gained the diploma with the expectation that she would complete the class over summer.
During her gap year, Hoffman studied Spanish at the Don Quijote school in Barcelona, Spain for about a month. She also traveled to Ireland alone, worked as a barista, and took Hebrew lessons at Congregation Beth Am in Buffalo Grove.
“I feel that I gained a huge sense of independence. During the past year I’ve gotten to know myself a lot better,[especially by] not being in an environment where you’re crowded by [the same] people all the time,” Hoffman said. “I’ve had a lot of awesome opportunities…I feel just so grateful and rejuvenated after this past year.”
Looking back on her experience, Hoffman believes she could have planned and utilized CRC resources better. Hoffman worked on college applications alone and relied on her dad’s feedback for essays. Despite not having help from the CRC, working on college applications free from academic stress was a positive for her. Hoffman now attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“You never really know what it’s going to be like until you do it…If you really want to make the most of your time and you want to feel confident in what you’re doing, definitely plan ahead…Talk to people, talk to your parents, talk to a counselor – definitely utilize all of the resources that are available [at school],” Hoffman said.
One of Hoffman’s biggest challenges was worrying that she made a mistake – that she would later regret having skipped out on spending more time with her friends and participating in senior year traditions.
“What I learned was that you can’t spend too much time thinking about the ‘what ifs;’ there’s always different ways things could have played out,” Hoffman said. “You [shouldn’t] dwell too long on what could have been, because then you miss out on what you’re actually doing.”