IB: How to Skip a High School Grade Level in California

Skipping a grade in high school is difficult and happens with students who are accelerated due to gifts/talents/abilities that are above the norm. But many high school students, even at traditional grade level, can get college credit while in high school through AP, IB, SAT subject, CLEP exams, and community college coursework and skip all or part of freshman year of college.

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Take AP and IB Classes. Take as many Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) (www.ibo.org) classes during high school to prepare you for the AP tests and International Baccalaureate Diploma essay exams. You must pass AP tests with a 3 or better in order for it to count as college credits. Completion of an IB Diploma in HS is awarded up to a full year of college credit at some colleges and universities in the US and abroad
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Send your AP and IB Diploma results to the college you are attending so they will count them as an equivalent class.
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If you live in California, take the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) and test out of high school in the 10th, 11th or 12th grade. Many students do this and go full time to community college or trade school or internship. Many find the community college schedule more flexible than high school and most classes to be no more difficult than high school courses. See [1] for more information on the exam.
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In other US states, take classes at your local community college while still in high school or middle school. Make sure you are taking college freshman classes that count toward your general education requirements. For California State Universities and University of California schools the general education requirements are as follows: Area A: Communication/Critical Thinking, Area B: Physical Universe and Its Life Forms, Area C: Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and Foreign Language, Area D: Social, Political, and Economic Institutions and Behavior, and Area E: Lifelong Understanding and Self Development. If you would like to see the document refer to the sources area. Community colleges vary in who they allow to take advantage of the Concurrent Enrollment program - some extend the option to all minors while others only allow 11th and 12th graders admission.
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Pass the community college classes with a C or better and send your transcript to the college of your choice.
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Take College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests. Devised by the College Board, maker of the SAT, you can take these to receive college credit for what you've already learned at high school or on your own. Most CLEP tests can lead to 3 or 6 credits being awarded, while language tests offer as many as 12.
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Make sure you talk to your school counselor in high school about how to do this and with a college academic advisor when you are admitted to college to find our what classes counted towards their general education requirements.