The huge problem with this suggestion is that society is built around the idea that you have a "High School Diploma" and a "College Diploma", so just up and quitting school isn't a good solution.
I think the best solution for someone trapped in the school system is to basically do a few things:
Middle School
1. Survive.
2. Get ahead. You're not old enough (in society's eyes) to out maneuver the adults yet. Prepare yourself.
3. Develop a love and interest in another foreign culture.
High School
1. Take every "legal" chance to get out of normal classes. Do joint-enrollment, AP, and technical classes.
2. If you must take "normal" classes, sleep in them, or do tomorrow's homework (the rest of the year's homework if you can) in class. Test well. Then study more interesting stuff with the extra time you have at night. Remember: Homework is largely graded on completion and is typically the largest part of your grade, so do the easy thing.
3. Apply for scholarships like hell. Every dollar you can get now is worth 1,000 times itself in the future.
4. Learn a language and culture of a (very) foreign country. Don't take Spanish or French. Do German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, etc. Learning a language doesn't just allow you to interact with others from that country, it gives you perspective on your own situation. This is vital to your education.
University
1. Buy the best education you can for the value. An online degree is cheap, but not valuable. An Ivy League degree is expensive, but the value may not add up to the expense. Try Georgia Tech, not MIT. Try University of Washington, not Harvard. Use your own judgement here.
2. Don't go into debt if you can.
3. Do an exchange program. Spend a year in a country you care about. See also: High School #4. Don't stay in the "international housing" if you can. Try to stay in the dorms with other normal students.
4. While in University, do paid work in the field you are going into. The more recognizable the name of the company you work for, the better. If you're doing work at the University, don't do retail, food staff, etc. Do technical support, tutoring, or administrative. Not only are these jobs easier and pay more, but they look way better on a future resume.
5. Take an advanced finance class and an advanced programming class, even if you have to "sit in" on the class (larger universities don't take roll and you can sneak in these classes sometimes). These are the two human systems that make our world work today. If you don't get this, you're going to get swindled as a professional.
6. Join clubs. If they don't exist, make your own club. Get on the club's officer list. Put it on your resume if it looks good. You'll make lifelong friends from these people. You might even start your own business with these people.
7. Don't really bother with Frats / Sororities / Bars. The real fun and parties are with deep friendships you make and that allow you build a better lifestyle. See #6.
> An Ivy League degree is expensive, but the value may not add up to the expense. Try Georgia Tech, not MIT. Try University of Washington, not Harvard. Use your own judgement here.
If you're poor however, reverse this. UW or Georgia Tech will maybe give you enough aid to cover half the tuition.
Harvard and MIT will give you a full ride plus money for a return flight home and extra spending money each semester, all before you get a work-study job.
This is one of the greatest equalizers of income disparity available in America and I'm very glad to be able to take advantage of it.
4. While in University, do paid work in the field you are going into
That's pretty much the most important bit of advice I try to give to young people. Companies will hire a college student with no experience but will not hire a college graduate with no experience.
Wow, looking at this list, it's actually pretty surprising and impressive how much I've apparently managed to do right, at least starting at the "University" stage.
Apparently I should have taken an advanced finance class, but I'm pretty sure my finances are fine right now anyway.
> Don't really bother with Frats / Sororities / Bars.
Food for thought: Data seems to indicate that those who drink more, earn more. It is thought that the uninhibited random connections you make at those kind of social functions may open up opportunities to find better jobs.
This may explain why people who go to college, and are exposed to the stereotypical party scene, also statistically earn more. If you stick to parties with with a close nit group of friends, you may actually set yourself back career-wise, statistically speaking.
Of course there is a lot more to college than just finding a future career, but your opening statement seems to imply that focus.
The public school system in Utah provides language-immersion programs where students are taught regular subjects (math, geography, etc) in a foreign language for half the day. The elementary school nearest me offers Mandarin Chinese.
The system still may be prison-like and focused on standardized testing, but learning a foreign language at a young age is a nice benefit I'll be considering for my kids.
I think the best solution for someone trapped in the school system is to basically do a few things:
Middle School 1. Survive.
2. Get ahead. You're not old enough (in society's eyes) to out maneuver the adults yet. Prepare yourself.
3. Develop a love and interest in another foreign culture.
High School 1. Take every "legal" chance to get out of normal classes. Do joint-enrollment, AP, and technical classes.
2. If you must take "normal" classes, sleep in them, or do tomorrow's homework (the rest of the year's homework if you can) in class. Test well. Then study more interesting stuff with the extra time you have at night. Remember: Homework is largely graded on completion and is typically the largest part of your grade, so do the easy thing.
3. Apply for scholarships like hell. Every dollar you can get now is worth 1,000 times itself in the future.
4. Learn a language and culture of a (very) foreign country. Don't take Spanish or French. Do German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, etc. Learning a language doesn't just allow you to interact with others from that country, it gives you perspective on your own situation. This is vital to your education.
University 1. Buy the best education you can for the value. An online degree is cheap, but not valuable. An Ivy League degree is expensive, but the value may not add up to the expense. Try Georgia Tech, not MIT. Try University of Washington, not Harvard. Use your own judgement here.
2. Don't go into debt if you can.
3. Do an exchange program. Spend a year in a country you care about. See also: High School #4. Don't stay in the "international housing" if you can. Try to stay in the dorms with other normal students.
4. While in University, do paid work in the field you are going into. The more recognizable the name of the company you work for, the better. If you're doing work at the University, don't do retail, food staff, etc. Do technical support, tutoring, or administrative. Not only are these jobs easier and pay more, but they look way better on a future resume.
5. Take an advanced finance class and an advanced programming class, even if you have to "sit in" on the class (larger universities don't take roll and you can sneak in these classes sometimes). These are the two human systems that make our world work today. If you don't get this, you're going to get swindled as a professional.
6. Join clubs. If they don't exist, make your own club. Get on the club's officer list. Put it on your resume if it looks good. You'll make lifelong friends from these people. You might even start your own business with these people.
7. Don't really bother with Frats / Sororities / Bars. The real fun and parties are with deep friendships you make and that allow you build a better lifestyle. See #6.
8. Go with your gut and fly.