Perhaps SD is overwhelmed. You mentioned that she is failing every course and has 8 weeks to correct the situation. 8 weeks to go from "F" to "C" ? 

I would not have any idea how she could accomplish this feat without daily, intensive one-on-one support/guidance/hand-holding from her parents.

I'd quit, too.

You stated in your last blog on this "if she goes to class everyday and does the work and makes up some past work, it is possible she can graduate.  Almost every teacher says she's very bright and capable of doing the work".

What are te chances of her actually attending absolutely every day, doing every scrap of current assignments and past assignments? My guess, pretty much zip.

A GED at this point in her life will not be the be all to end all for her. Her teachers say she's very bright and capable. Had you been told she's incapable and/or reached her ability level, yeah, problem. 

My one insistence with her would be she must immediately go and sign up to take the GED. She may or may not have to take some pre-work. If she knows the stuff but has just been too lazy to attend classes and lacks self discipline to do daily assignments, she may do every well on the GED and without additional prep. She's eighteen. This isn't the end of the world... but if Dad makes a huge stink over this and goes on and on about a waste of life,  a huge disappointment blah blah blah, it very well could be she'll live that gloomy life you mentioned here with babies and welfare. 

You can go ahead and condemn her for life, or you can get behind her. The odds of her pulling off the actual HS graduation thing or slim to none, but if she follows through immediately on the GED she still has a shot for a future. Even of she messes up a time or two in the next couple years, she has plenty of time to pick herself up, brush herself off and move forward. 

All I'm saying is don't give up on her just yet. 

Since there is nothing that you can do about her quitting, I would encourage her to get her GED right away. The longer she waits, the more likely she will NOT do it.

I would be crushed if my kid dropped out of high school too. However, the other posters have good and valid points, ones that if I was in your shoes I wouldn't be able to see. SD was on the verge of not graduating. A GED isn't the end of the world. I would place requirements on her such as getting her GED withing 30 days (or something along those lines) as well as enrolling in at least 1 class at the community college, starting with the summer semester. Not meeting those requirements would mean no more financial support and she is not allowed to stay over at your house until she does that. 

With 4 kids between me and SO we have kids who vary from top of the gifted class and his lowest grade is a 97% and is taking high school courses in the 6th grade, to average kid, to below average kid but only becasue he doesn't try, to special needs and won't ever live on his own.  ALL of our kids will better themselves and take classes in higher education or vocational training. I don't care what classes they take as long as they are doing SOMETHING. If SD wants to get her LPN cert or Cosmotology or start on her pre-law degree she can do all of those things at the community college level to start and they happily accept GED's. 

Actually, statistics show that when a capable kid drops out and gets a GED, 98 percent of the time it is the "end of the world," meaning they have just signed up for a life of poverty. This isn't 1985 or even 1995 for that matter. We are facing the same thing with my SS and most likely my SD in two years. It's depressing.

I mean I don't know what getting a GED looks like in your state, but in my state, it's not like you just show up and take the test.  You have to attend GED classes and then you qualify to take test at the end of the course in accordance with your attendance.  The adult GED class for my county is in my school building and those teachers told me that the state just recently revamped the test and it is much MORE difficult than it used to be. 

Wouldn't she be better off sticking it out, and going to summer school to pick up whatever credits she is short on?? 

And she is an adult, so she can do what she wants.  Has she ever had a job?  She will need one now.   Showing your contempt for her and shunning her will make your worst case scenarios more likely.  There is nothing wrong with working for a living.  I'd support the idea of her getting her GED but not push her to take college courses until she is ready and has the ability to pay for it.  She may find an associate's degree program that she likes that is more hands on, but anything will still require coursework.  Please don't foist her on a poor community college adjunct instructor unless she wants to be there.  I used to be one.  I taught anatomy for massage therapy students and half of the students there thought they just had to show up to class for 18 months and graduate and land a great job.  Didn't crack the textbook open once. 

Possibly, if she waits tables or cleans hotel rooms for a year or so, she will come to the realization that she wants more in life, enough to seek it out herself.  Or she can look for a full time job with benefits where only a GED is required.  They are out there.   It may not be what you or her father envisioned for her, but it's her life.  Of course, you don't have to allow her to live in your house since she has decided she wants to be treated like an adult.

Its really nice that you care so much about her. This isn't necessarily something that will doom her to be a failure in life. Pretty much everyone knows that once someone is out working (no matter where) a few years out, no one cares where you went to college or what your education/GPA is. You prove yourself through your work. If she buckles down, she can go as far as she wants. College and grad school are all still possibilities, and most professional places will foot the bill, or at least a good portion of it. Just try to keep your hopes up, she's so young and this isn't anywhere near the finish line. She's barely crossed the starting line.