Hey! It's a pleasure to have you in this community, and I hope I can offer some useful advice.
The first thing you should keep in mind is that your transition isn't going to happen overnight-or even in six months. It's an ongoing process. It's taken me about three years to make it to where I am, and my transition still isn't completely finished. What I'm getting at is that if you leave school for a semester, you're still going to be in the process when you return. Hormones take about eighteen months to make any dramatic changes, or they might take even longer. Surgery has it's requirements too. It's also a very difficult process psychologically. Trust me-I thought I could do it that way too: Go to collage full time, and it'd be like a switch had flipped. It didn't really work that way-it's a long journey you're embarking on. This isn't always a bad thing either; when I first came out (I was seventeen), I had the option to take a gap year or just go straight into collage. I choose the latter, and I'm happy that I did-transitioning genders is a very stressful process, and for me being able to concentrate on more than that one thing helped me make it through that first year. That being said, getting on hormones ASAP is also important-is there absolutely no way to see a doctor who might prescribe them? I don't know where you live, but in the States a lot of LGBT friendly clinics no longer require extensive psychotherapy before starting hormones.
For me personally, staying at home wasn't as appealing since my family was somewhat hesitant to accept my transition-but more importantly, I did not want my transition to run my life. That's something you really should take to heart going forward. This is part of who you are, a very significant part, but if you let it influence every decision you make, you might really regret it. It's important to consider all of your needs-would you have any support at school, even if it's just from friends? Some of my biggest allies in my transition were cis and straight. Would you be able to deal with the process of transitioning without having anything else on your plate? I know I could never have done that, but then again-not everyone like to be busy! What about a therapist? I'm not going to push the "get a gender therapist" card as hard as some of the other girls here, but seeing someone, even if they aren't a specialist really can help you a lot. I suppose what I'm saying is that you should consider the big picture, and keep in mind that this is all a process.
You're going to grow as a person in ways you can't even imagine in the next few years, and not just physically! It's a process, but the payoff is huge. Just don't let yourself develop tunnel vision; your situation sounds very similar to what mine was, and if you'd ever like to talk with someone who's been there, my email address is listed on my profile information
Best of luck to you hon-I really hope things go well!!!
-Sasha
