>So I guess in one way, we've already met the "real world" in terms of the respect for intelligence (people think you're crazy in admiring terms if you take 4 APs at a time), but in others, we were very sheltered because we don't know what to do in the real world. Nothing we're taught in those AP courses really teach us how to buy a house, or pay taxes, or become socially experienced. But I guess you don't really learn that anywhere other than first hand experience unless you're lucky.
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I've stayed out of this conversation, myself, due to not attending a high school, but the above is something I have had very real experience with. I was homeschooled in a rural area -- it doesn't get much more sheltered than that! -- and grades were always the most important thing to my parents. I slept, ate, and breathed textbooks throughout high school, sometimes starting at seven in the morning and not finishing until the same time at night, without more than a couple of short breaks. The extent of my social experience was being involved in Scouts (with about five other girls) and becoming involved in places like this.

Man, did I have culture shock when I went to college. I pretty much knew what to expect, but it was tough suddenly having to deal with so many other people and their expectations. Then, after about a year, things started to come easier. I'm now a junior, and don't think twice about living in the "real world." I've learned how to deal with people who owe you money and don't want to pay, how to make a dentist appointment, how to make small talk with people I don't want to be talking to, and how to deal with backstabbers (something I'm actually also going through currently). I'm even slowly getting over my phobia of the phone, enough so that I can call friends without too much trepidation. ;-) Though I still don't know how to file taxes or buy a house, I've been through enough to know that I will figure it out when the time comes, and that it won't be such a big deal as I thought it would be. Most people will know you're learning and will be accepting of that. Then there are the jerks who won't be, so you'll learn how to deal with that, too.

This isn't anything you didn't know, I realize, but I thought it might be helpful to hear from someone just cresting the mountain you're looking at.

La"Cheesy analogy; please forgive me"Zorra