I Earned Two College Degrees by 18 With This Life Hack
I entered my freshman year of high school and my freshman year of college at the same time.
My mom dropped me off for my first day of college when I was 14 years old
I had joined a dual enrollment program at my Ohio high school called “College Credit Plus” and I was ready to be a guinea pig of a student again — while earning some college credits in the process.
I came straight from middle school just a year earlier — yet there I was on a college campus
I started off with kickboxing, English, and Physics in the morning of my first year followed by mildly suffering through high school algebra. Most days, my (two years) older brother and I would carpool, and we even had some classes together.
After a few semesters, I got sick of commuting back and forth. My high school classes started to feel so boring, and not very useful. My experiment, on the other hand, turned out to be an enjoyable learning experience — I was hooked. I soon realized I could replace nearly every one of my high school courses with college-level work. By my sophomore year of high school, I only had one required high school class left.
So, I full-committed to college life as a high schooler.
I realized a bachelor’s degree could be in my future by year 18th birthday if I kept my focus (and took some summer classes on top of my coursework). Some classes were easy — and some were a slap in the face that challenged me to revisit both my study habits and my over-reliance on academic validation. This wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.
After two years, I earned my Associate of Arts degree
Only two years of high school and two years of college left. I made it through with mostly As and Bs, two rogue C’s, lots of friendships created, and plenty of laughs.
At 16, I was the youngest graduate at my local community college
I proudly walked across the stage with my brother who I had shared the experience with (and who had also been a dual enrollment student, finishing high school with two years of college under his belt).
Two years after that, I earned my Bachelor’s degree.
This happened two weeks before earning my high school diploma. So, I was a two-time college graduate before even finishing high school. Since I’d started high school and college at the same time, I had two college degrees (and my high school diploma) under my belt by the time I was 18 years old, all without missing out on the elusive “high school experience”. I actually had more free time than ever before to work out, join clubs, date, spend time with family, hang out with friends — and even start a business, while holding down a 3.9 GPA.
Now that I’m nearly five years into my life and career post-grad, I’ve had time to reflect on my decision and experience, and I’m so happy I took the path I did. I’ll get into some of the drawbacks in a bit, but I’ve found most people out there focus too heavily on the (very few) cons of such programs, so I’ll lead with what I loved about my dual enrollment experience!
First, let’s look to the financial benefits
I saved a little over $100,000 (that would have been spent by me or my parents on tuition) not to mention the additional $100,000 I was able to earn by running a business in my free time. Factoring in everything, I’d say I got a pretty solid deal. Student loans suck, and it feels so freeing to not be in a crazy amount of debt over education.
I saved a lot of time, too
I unlocked four years between the ages of 18–22 that might have been spent in college (not to mention the huge opportunity cost of everything I would have been missing out on ) all while still reaping the benefits of having my four-year degree.
Plus, I had more freedom to explore my interests and hobbies. I worked as a movie extra, copywriter, social media manager, and marketing strategist among other roles — with extra time in my day to get involved with several communities, take acting and improv classes, attend industry conferences, and stay up to date on the latest trends in emerging tech.
Dual enrollment kinda feels like a secret life hack
Dual enrollment gave me the freedom to take my learning into my own hands after being failed by my teachers (or to more appropriately place blame, our current educational system as a whole).
I had a talk with my mom the other day and I asked her “Do you think I would have gone to college had I not taken the path I did?” “Probably not,” she said. And I agree with her. Teachers and professors have positively impacted my life in so many ways — but school itself isn’t something I love. I devoured books as a child, and a few rare teachers fostered this interest and encouraged me. Others didn’t know what to do with me, especially as I breezed through standardized tests. School soon started to feel so constricting, so regimented, and definitely not made for me.
Dual enrollment gave me more autonomy over my learning outcomes
No more being shoved in some experimental classroom due to higher test scores — I instead had the ability to follow my interests and take classes like Kickboxing, and Rhetoric, and Comparative Politics, and Physics, in addition to the required classes I needed to get done.
AP classes weren’t the right choice for me, even though instructors pushed them heavily and criticized me for choosing to try dual enrollment
I lacked support and was dismissed from guidance counselors (except for a few helpful individuals) and other school officials for not following the path they had set out for me.
What this experience taught me more than anything is that education tries to be one-size-fits-all, and that simply doesn’t work for every child
I could have sincerely seen myself having a horrendous experience in high school had I stayed on the default path, and I instead had such an enriching and exploratory experience.
Parents seem cautious about the social aspects, peer pressure, etc., of placing younger students in environments with (potentially significantly older) adults, but I’d argue that infantilization and some light teasing is a bigger issue than peer pressure.
Did I get hit on by a few creepy 18-year old classmates as a 14 year old? Yeah, and I still have the Snapchat screenshots to prove it, but it’s not like my high-school age classmates were any more appropriate. The worst college “bullying” I received was some classmate in his mid 20s asking if I’d like a juice box, but conversations were cordial, and my classmates and I learned a lot from each other.
I actually felt more “normal” as a young college student than I did in my few required high school courses
Toggling between getting a ride from my brother and later sharing a car with my mom wasn’t ideal for hanging out with friends outside of class, but I mainly kept deeper social connections with kids around my own age.
If high school is supposed to prepare you for the “real world”, I’d argue going through a dual enrollment program is much better preparation
This type of learning environment brings together people from all walks of life vs. high schoolers that all know each other and that have likely never ventured out of their hometown.
I know that my experience is subjective and I’m not trying to “sell” anyone on it, but I think we need some more perspectives out there at least shedding light on this alternative option. I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like had I not explored the path I did, but I have a feeling it would have been significantly less exciting and enriching.
Your story (or your child’s story) doesn’t have to be:
- Go to high school for 4 years
- Pack your schedule full of AP classes
- Apply to several to colleges, stressing along the way
- Take out student loans
- Graduate 4 (or 5…. Or 6 years later)
- Slowly pay off your $20,000, $40,000, $100,000 or more in student loan debt
There’s another option — it’s just that practically no one is talking about it.
Students and parents often don’t understand the program or have never even heard of dual enrollment, which breaks my heart.
I’m here to spread awareness of alternate options when it comes to education.
I’m not here to brag or flex — just to share my own experience with dual enrollment, the good and the bad.
There’s a horrendous lack of research on the topic of dual-enrollment, specifically career outcomes for dual-enrollment students, with most research focusing strictly on whether or not these students went on to finish their college degree. The good news is that the research I have seen points to favorable outcomes, and potentially even higher future earnings.
But in addition to the limited research, many students and parents often don’t understand the program or have never even heard of it.
It can be so upsetting to talk to a high school senior that would have been a perfect candidate for CCP, only to realize they never knew it was an option for them.
No one wants to have regrets about their education or take on additional debt and student loans- especially during these challenging economic times brought on by COVID-19.
Years later, I’m still reaping the benefits of not only my education, but the time and money I ultimately saved that I never could have experienced if not for dual enrollment.
Was dual enrollment super awkward, difficult, and intimidating at times? Yeah — but it was also equally awesome.
Would I do things a little bit differently, though? For sure.
Would I do it again? Yup — in a heartbeat.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s not something that can be done alone.
My mom is kinda like a wizard when it comes to scheduling classes. With hours of reading and research, she helped me and my siblings out a lot throughout this process.
Many phone calls were made to guidance counselors and school administrators to figure out how to get things done right, even with friction and unneccessary roadblocks.
Without her help, support, organization, and persistence, I don’t think I would have been able to accomplish what I did.
I also owe it to her and my brother for giving me rides to and from class, and to my close family and friends for supporting my decision— this type of support isn’t available to everyone.
When you do something like this and take a non-traditional path, you need to realize people won’t really know what to think about you, or how to react to your experience that may be different from the ones they’ve more commonly seen.
I don’t need to take the default path or fit into someone else’s expectations for me. And I seem to feel at my best when I feel I’m “hacking the system” in some way. Finding a better, faster, more efficient way, but most importantly a path that works for me.
Nowadays, especially when it comes to my career, no one really knows what to do with me, or what box to put me in, but I’ve learned to be okay with it. I choose to work with those that see the value of my unique experiences and my unique way of working, and I’m happier than ever with my experiences in work (and life) post-graduation.
But I’m not 100% satisfied yet — because not enough people know about dual enrollment yet, even students that would benefit greatly from a head start on life. I’m not okay with that. So, I’m building skiphighschool.com to show you (or your child) how to take advantage of dual enrollment! Learn more by reading the articles below or by visiting skiphighschool.com.
Thanks for reading,
