Students that pursue a bachelors degree in the U.S. traditionally spend four years in high school (graduating at ~18) and four years in university (~22). They often hold part-time jobs and internships, but only start accumulating “real” experience after finishing their education.

This means trading eight years of your life — years where you have minimal debt so far, the most freedom from life obligations you’ll have until retirement, and the near-peak of your youth and health — to a system in exchange for two pieces of paper. In the process, many make very few original and/or valuable contributions.^[1] Those diplomas are important keys to accessing traditional middle-class life, but note the opportunity cost here, and how much time is fed to the educational system.

It’s worth carefully thinking through both high school and university to make sure you’re spending your time in a way that is both meaningful in the moment, and valuable long-term. A shockingly large number of default paths handed to students fall short on both measures.

Many students will make this trade because it’s the default path, or because the adults in their life successfully push them on to it. Others will look at the trade-off with open eyes and decide the eight years of investment makes sense to them; more power to these people who choose this path.

But for those who want another option, it is possible to capture most of the upside while mitigating the costly time sink.

Note: I write this guide generally aimed at the student striving to be middle class or upper middle class, with the educational expectations that entails. Other socioeconomic classes are more likely to be handed life-scripts that already route around the educational system. I’m sure many of my suggestions are me typical-minding the reader, so consult with people whose opinions you trust before implementing.

High School

Dropping Out / GED

The fastest way to finish high school is not to finish high school. The easiest way to do that is to get a GED, which is a test you can take to prove you know the equivalent of a high school graduate. Check specific local laws to figure out how to do this; in a lot of places, you have to be at least 16 years old before leaving high school.

A GED is not as prestigious as a diploma, so make sure you know what your plan is if you take this route. You’ll likely be able to start taking classes in a local community college or trade school right away with a GED, though it can be worth calling an admission counselor for whatever program you’re interested in to chat about your chances of getting accepted.

The ideal option would be to do something bold and interesting with your time immediately after getting a GED. The only person I semi-personally know who took this path started his own (decently successful!) photography company while still a student, then dropped out at 16, got his GED, and worked on his own company full-time. Best case scenario, you work on something exciting that pans out exactly as hoped; worst case scenario, this is an excellent story to tell to admissions counselors/employers in the future, and shows that you have ingenuity and an entrepreneurial spirit.

While dropping out can work if planned correctly, note that this is by far the riskiest path. I don’t recommend taking it unless you have a solid plan in place for after — and this includes actually doing the work to prove to yourself you’ll make good use of the extra time by starting something before you drop out.

Also, if your parents have strong middle-to-upper-middle class plans for you, this is the path they are least likely to let you take. You need great evidence that it will work for your particular case, or you need to choose a less risky path.

Graduating Early

Instead of dropping out, there are many ways to take an accelerated track to getting a high school diploma. This is generally slower but a lot safer, since you get the same high school diploma as a regular student, just faster.

Most high schools hand out booklets at the beginning of the year or when you transfer to them. These generally have the course catalog, but most importantly it should list the graduation requirements. This will often include something like four credits of English, two of science, etc.

If you want to graduate early, your goal is to get those credits at least one full course-cycle (usually a year or semester) before you would otherwise graduate.

A lot of high schools, especially nicer high schools, offer summer classes that will give you credits in less time than they would otherwise take. Some schools let you take classes that start before/after the school day, or let you count evening classes at a local community college toward your degree. My personal favorite is online classes; if your county/state offers certified online classes, you can overload your schedule and take way more credits than you’re supposed to.^[2]

If you don’t plan on applying to a selective college right out of high school, take the easiest classes that fulfill your credit requirements.

If you do want to apply to a selective college, this becomes much harder. You’re playing a balancing game where you’re maximizing not only credits earned, but also perceived rigor, college credits earned (à la AP), and the highest grade you can reliably maintain. Godspeed.

This is a pretty safe option even if you don’t know what you want to do after high school. Additionally, I can attest that it’s much easier to get parents on board.

If you’re trying to convince adults to let you do this, my strategy is 1) talk to your high school admissions counselor and get them to approve of your plan (this is the most important!), then 2) call the admissions counselor for any program you want to do after college to check that you’ll meet their criteria (possibly overkill but good for convincing parents), then 3) show your parents the finished plan that already has the approval of multiple authoritative adults. Your mileage may vary.

Getting Started with College

I’m kind of cheating putting this under the high school section, but if you can’t get a high school diploma early, you can instead get a “head start” on college, and finish the combined high school/university years in less time this way. Note that this section is of less use if you have no use for a college degree, or can’t handle heavier academic rigor.

The two typical ways to start earning college credit while in high school are through tests, or by spending some of your time taking classes at a local community college.

Community college classes are generally easier to transfer, and can often be taken in the evenings outside of your regular course load. Some high schools have programs where they bus you to college classes; excellent high schools have programs that specifically facilitate getting an associate’s degree before graduating, which often makes university one or two years shorter. This is a larger time investment than tests.
Tests are easier to get if you can’t get to community college classes, but they don’t always transfer as well. IB and AP tests often confer college credit, but the usual route to take these involves taking a full class before hand, probably at your high school. (If your high school doesn’t offer the class, you can take an online class, or self-study and ask your school to proctor the exam for you.) CLEP exams are much easier because they aren’t tied to specific classes, so all you need to do is self-study then find a valid testing center.

If you are looking to use your associate’s degree / college courses / exams to get through a bachelor’s degree faster, make sure whatever program you’re applying to accepts these credits before you invest time in them.

University

I imagine a lot more students have at least considered a fast track through university, at least partially because you should now be an adult fully in charge of your own educational path. The fast-tracking solution here boils down to either “take more credits” or else “don’t go”.

Don’t Go

Shockingly, as with high school, the fastest way to get out of university it to just not go. This is how the majority of Americans solve the problem, and there are still plenty of alternatives to a bachelor’s.

Additionally, some paths that seem locked behind university can actually be accessed by any successful autodidact.^[3]

Taking More Classes

This is the most obvious solution. Your school should have a specific number of credits needed to graduate, and probably a specific list of classes required for your major. These can usually be found online.

There’s likely an easyish path that you’re expected to default to, but almost any university will allow you schedule flexibility. If you can get enough classes ahead of schedule and finish all of your requirements >=1 semester before your expected graduation, your school will likely let you graduate early.

The biggest annoyance here is just scheduling; often you’ll find that multiple classes you want happen at the same time, or classes aren’t offered every semester and you can’t take it when you want. The solution is either an aggressively color-coded spreadsheet compiling all the relevant class info and times you can find, or (easier) talking to an academic counselor for help.

I’m realizing how often I recommend talking to a counselor, but this is literally their job, and there’s no point in taking the hard path of routing around them if you can just get their help.

Also worth noting is that taking more credits can be more expensive. Although you’ll often save money overall by graduating earlier, check your school’s overage charge policy.

Bringing Credits In

See the “Getting Started With College” section above for how a high school student can start getting college credits. If the university you attend accepts these credits, those are classes you don’t need to take to get your bachelors.

If you’re already in university, ask a counselor; in some schools you can still test out of classes even while a current student (ex. with CLEP). Alternatively, when you can’t take classes at your college (for example, over summer break if your college has no summer programs), check if classes at the community college closest to you can count toward your degree or look for accepted and accredited online courses.

Bringing credits in has the advantage of moving you toward your degree even when you can’t be at your university, and also often costs a lot less money. Just do your due diligence to make sure those credits actually make it to your transcript.

FAQ / Common Concerns

Q: What if I do all the work but am still not allowed to graduate early?

A: Check with your school that they’ll let you graduate if you can get the credits early! Email/call/visit the administration to talk to someone if you’re not sure.

If it’s family that won’t let you graduate early, one solution is to build the whole plan for how it will work out and only present it once you’ve obviously thought it through. If you’re a minor and really can’t convince your guardian(s), just take the most advanced courses you’re allowed and can logistically handle.

Q: Won’t this make the social part of high school/university a lot harder?

A: Graduating before your friends can make it harder to stay close with them while they’re still a step “behind” you. Your ability to make friends at your next step has much more to do with how mature you act than your chronological age (and if you’ve made it this far in the guide, you’re probably not going to be the least-mature person there).

If you’re going to university extra young, keep in mind that in the U.S. you may not be able to (legally) drink when your friends can, which may change your ability to e.g. go bar-hopping senior year.

Q: But aren’t high school/university are supposed to be some of the best years?

A: If you’re having a great time, don’t graduate early. This is aimed at people who want to exit the educational system.

Also, people who are driven enough to get out of school early have lots of options for making adult life fun and fulfilling. There are other cool people and projects to work with, and the world is actually pretty big.

Q: But then you’ll be too young as a new graduate and fall behind in your career.

A: I’m not sure why this is a concern someone mentioned, because in my experience it’s simply false. You have more time to get work experience, try things out, and get into a professional track that suits you. Graduating early gives you year(s) to work or experiment before your age group even really starts in the workforce.

Q: What if I don’t get accepted to [specific program] because I graduated early?

A: If you’re worried, talk to [program]’s admissions counselors before graduating. Or if you get rejected, use that extra time to do something awesome and fulfilling and re-apply. Or question whether [program] is right for you, or if there are equally good alternate paths.

Closing

I’m a strong believer in early graduation, at least for anyone who is as disenchanted with being a student as I was. For the ambitious, this means the freedom to fully pursue meaningful projects outside of school; for the practical, this means less money spent on college and a faster track to earning years; and for the undecided, this means more time out in the “real world” to actually figure out what you want to do.

I don’t know if any such students will be on this site, but I’m putting it out there just in case.

This is my first post, so constructive criticism is very welcome. I hope some of this was helpful, and would be happy to answer any questions :-)

^
Some students are ambitious enough to make meaningful life progress anywhere, even (somehow) during high school, though this is uncommon. Graduating early would still give ambitious students more time to fully pursue those interests.
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Shout out to Florida here — if you’re a Florida student, FLVS was awesome for racking up credits faster than intended and I highly recommend it.
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For example, it’s fully possible to self-teach computer science, then create projects or solve problems proving that you know what you’re doing, and end up in the same career path as someone who spent time on a CS degree. The degree is just a lot easier for most people.

Why and How to Graduate Early [U.S.]