Visit the library and investigate the scope and depth of their resources. Also note if the library is conducive to studying.
Check in on the student services center. Find out what services are available, including tutoring and study skills help.
Look at the computer labs. How many are there? Are they always full?
Sit in on a few classes.
If you are headed for dorm life, try to arrange an overnight visit.
4. Realize that there is no perfect solution. You’ve probably already discovered that you and your parents have had to make compromises all along to find challenges that come close to matching the pace and level of your learning, and to locate friends with whom you feel compatible. This situation is no different. With a few exceptions such as admission to one of the handful of college programs that are designed for very young gifted students, going to college early is going to be one more compromise. You’ll be making the best fit you can between the setting (or combination of settings) you choose and your own needs and readiness. Think of all the other people whose differences also get in the way of their fitting in – students with disabilities, for example, or students coming here from other countries – and make the best of it. The decision to go to college very early is not one you should make just on the advice of others – be sure that it’s what you want to try. Some young students haven’t had much experience in making decisions for themselves and have a hard time sorting out their parents’ ideas from their own. Going to college requires hard work with a lot less personal support than you may have been used to in your previous academic settings. It means giving up some other choices, and it may launch you into being conspicuously “young” for the rest of your educational trajectory and the beginning of your career. Especially if your family has made some sacrifices to make this happen – moving to a new city, for example, or paying high tuition – be sure it’s what you think you want. 5. Resources on investigating colleges Early Entrance, Acceleration Institute http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/early_college.aspx
Davidson Gifted Database Early College Resources http://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/topic/105241/entryType/2
John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth – List of Early College Entrance Programs https://cty.jhu.edu/imagine/resources/college_entrance.html
Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page list of Early Entrance College Programs http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/early_college.htm
Asher, D. (2000). Cool colleges for the hyper-intelligent, self-directed, late blooming, and just plain different. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Berger, S. (1990). “College Planning for Gifted and Talented Youth”. ERIC EC Digest #E490, ED321495 1990 https://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9216/college.htm Early College Guidebook – Student Version Page 57 of 76