Considering Cyber School for Senior Year: Benefits and Drawbacks

[AddversitY]

I will be entering my senior year next year, and I am pretty determined I would like to pursue a career in sciences, which field exactly I still am undecided.

Anyhow, I have a 4.4 GPA in my public school. I tend to miss a lot of days in school...lately I've been realizing how inefficient it operates and how much time is wasted throughout the day.

I have considered cyber school for my senior year for a few reasons. Primarily, I can move at my own pace. The material my classes work on should be covered in a few hours rather than multiple weeks. I am in all advanced classes too, so I'd think this wouldn't be a problem but unfortunately it is. Second, I would be able to take AP Calc AB AND AP Calc BC in the same year since I can finish AB on my own time. I like the idea of being able to finish school quickly and the time is all on me.

I understand the downsides of this and many people are saying I would be socially inactive. False, I will still participate in Wrestling for the school and various clubs ( I have already checked into this, I'm allowed -->Chess:) ).

What has been worrying me though is the view colleges have on cyber schools. All the guidance counselors and teachers have been telling me it is ugly to have on the transcript. Then again, I can understand why they'd have biased statements...they're public school teachers.

What I want to know is what opinions do you guys have on cyber school? Do you guys happen to have any knowledge on the topic or personal experience?

 

[sweetpotato]

I don't have personal experience with online high schools and I have no idea how they are generally perceived (i.e. are they seen as "good" or "bad"). However, I think you should think about your current struggles in light of your goal to pursue a science career. When you go to college (I assume you want to, since most science jobs require a degree) you will also have to put up with inefficiencies, classes that move too slow or too fast, wasting of time, and unpleasant classmates and professors. You'll probably have to deal with a class you want to take being full, not offered, or conflicting with your schedule. Why put off having to deal with these things? Why not use your senior year to learn how to deal with them? You'll face these things eventually at some point in your academic and professional career. By the way, if you are considering online colleges, keep in mind that you won't have hands-on labs in such colleges and this is an integral part of most science degrees.

 

[Mépris]

You might want to consider applying to the "Online High School" of "the Stanford EPGY". They require quite a few essays, mind you. I can't quite recall which specific part of the website shows this information (and I cannot be bothered to go look for it) but their alumni have gone to good colleges, and a good portion of which have actually gone to Stanford!

Since you're already a senior, have you not already applied to college? What difference would you completing high school elsewhere make?!

 

[daveyinaz]

I actually disagree with most of what sweetpotato said and think that if you can find a way to minimize your time spent dealing with inefficiencies then the more power to you. Although, dealing with stuff like that are a part of life and not solely college.

I'm also a little unsure about what sweetpotato meant by hands-on labs, maybe chemistry or something. In any case, I wouldn't worry about too much of this, I have two bachelors and the only "hands-on" lab class that I needed to be physically present for were introductory physics class and there was only two of them.

Plus, I really don't think online high schools is going to matter much for university admittance.

 

[sweetpotato]

By "hands-on labs" I meant the labs students usually take for college classes such as Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Science. I took 4 labs during my 1st year of college and they were a big part of my science education. However, this may not be the case for everybody. For example, if the OP is mainly interested in math or computer science, my statement may be irrelevant.

 

[AddversitY]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

By "hands-on labs" I meant the labs students usually take for college classes such as Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Science. I took 4 labs during my 1st year of college and they were a big part of my science education. However, this may not be the case for everybody. For example, if the OP is mainly interested in math or computer science, my statement may be irrelevant.

My guidance counselor mentioned some of the same things. I was thinking about maybe splitting up cyber school with public school. I would attend public school for my sciences classes because I definitely want to have hands on experience with labs (chemistry/physics).

And no, I have yet to apply for college.

 

[AddversitY]

You might want to consider applying to the "Online High School" of "the Stanford EPGY". They require quite a few essays, mind you. I can't quite recall which specific part of the website shows this information (and I cannot be bothered to go look for it) but their alumni have gone to good colleges, and a good portion of which have actually gone to Stanford!

Since you're already a senior, have you not already applied to college? What difference would you completing high school elsewhere make?!

Thanks for the suggestion, it was definitely looking like an option, but unfortunately, it is not tuition free.