I'm about the same as 00range, having gone through public, private, public, private, homeschool (in that order--I spent the most time in private school) and finally a local community college. I "dropped out" two years early and signed up for homeschool, and after two semesters at the college, working with dual credit classes, my parents graduated me to make me a full-time college student a year ahead (that is, I *would* be a senior if I were still in high school right now). It's definitely the way to go, and I only wish we had thought of it sooner! No flunking around with zombies who were socially raised by evening television sitcoms and who consider learning things "gay."--or, what's worse, they believe they ARE actually learning something in those absolutely ridiculous classes and, having done their "duty" after school lets out, are free to go vegetate.
Well, to be honest, that's not what it was like at my private school; the classes there were very well-taught and enthusiastically attended by MOST students...
But, still, the independent community college thing allows a much more flexible schedule for practicing and reading things that are more interesting that school material, and indeed even having fun every now and then. What's more, you get college credits while doing it, so when you want to go to a "real" school it's theoretically much easier to apply (actually, to transfer) to one rather than try out with all the other high school seniors; but, I'll grant that it depends a lot on the specific university. Some might not accept certain credits from the community college or the administration may have steep demands for transfer students. For me, those concerns are negligble, however. When in a stimulating atmosphere, I am a hard working student who always enjoys learning...so steep demands only motivate me.
Then again, it's not like my school is exactly the most stimulating environment this side of Cambridge. You do have to keep in mind that if you go to a community college, most of the people who are in your classes will be students who went all the way through high school and still do not care enough about education to go anywhere better than the community college. I do not associate closely with the student body at my current school, mainly because all they seem to talk about other than which teacher is easier than the next one usually includes alcohol, drugs, sex, or sports of some kind. Even the ones who do well in classes never seem to care much for the material itself; they have been trained, it would seem, to accept answers from a teacher, memorize them, spit them out at a test after looking for certain patterns in questions (for instance, "ok, he said that if I see THIS phrase, I do THIS and if I see this shape here it means I reverse such and such..." or whatever), and then forget them later.
Again, it's a good place to be if you hate public high schools, but, at least at *my* particular school, I wouldn't advise staying in community college for too long! I always make sure I am advancing far beyond the boundaries of my decidedly dull and limited classes, and hope to get into a far more prestigious school after another year or, at most, two.
Topic: High School dropout