Coming from someone who just graduated high school (class of 2014) and decided to try an online program first (due to my autism and issues relating to it), but am now transferring to a local university, I'd advise against it.

I was homeschooled/online schooled throughout most of middle school and high school (for the reasons mentioned before), so it only made sense to pursue an online undergrad (and then graduate) degree as well, right? So I started out this semester at ASU Online as a Psychology major. One thing I've learned about online colleges is that not only are you missing out on the traditional college experience (and I don't mean drinking, living in a dorm, or even making friends - there's more to college than that), but they can be pricey. Though ASU's program sounded nice, I simply couldn't afford it. Not to mention that online programs aren't necessarily as good as in person ones - and that's coming from someone who is totally for online schooling in general. I say this because I've compared ASU's program to my local college and my local college wins hands down. Not only is it cheaper but there's also less restrictions - online colleges only offer certain classes online, so you may miss out on taking what you really like. And it's very difficult to succeed in a course that you're not interested in.

I'd also started looking into pre-med and realized that obviously that's not feasible in an online setting; so then I decided I could take those (and some other) courses at the local university. Over time however, I came to realize the local university would be the best option. At ASU, for example, not only would tuition be over 14k a year for 30 credits, but I wouldn't have been able to pursue any minors or double majors because of the financial reasons. Now that I'm starting at my local college next semester, I can be pre-med, I'm still majoring in psychology, but I'm also double majoring in an individually designed major (which is one of the things I like most about my college) that I've called interdisciplinary sciences which combines the neuroscience major my school offers (my school is very research and medicine oriented as it has a med school) and the forensic science concentration. I'm also planning to pursue a dual degree in a BA and might even be able to pick up a minor or two and still graduate in 5 years (the dual degree will take me an extra year).

So basically, the moral of my long winded story is that while online schools can be good, especially for nontraditional students (such as older students or those in the military), I really don't think that they're the best option for younger students, because of the whole college experience, which can vary from person to person due to individual interests. As I noted before, I do have autism (Asperger's) so it's not like I'm into partying or anything - my college experience means that my school is giving me the ability to study the biological (hence the neuroscience interest) basis of autism (the school has an autism lab and also offers an autism class and a couple other classes that focus on autism as well). It allows me to participate in the honors college and psychology departmental honors, which offers smaller classes (which means less people and less anxiety for me!) so all is good. I can also join the rock climbing club, the French club, start a figure skating club, and join the psychology honors society (Psi Chi).

One other thing I realized about ASU is that I don't like how they treat online students or their programs. While I still think that it's a good school, I didn't like how they don't offer an scholarships to online students at all. I came there with a 4.0 (weighted) GPA and got nothing. I hate that I chose to go there first instead of a local university, because I've now missed out on important scholarships. (My situation was much different from the typical high school senior, though. I was dealing with much more serious issues, such as homelessness, during the application period time, so there's no way I wouldn't been able to apply to my local college on time.)

Of course, all of this will really depend on what you intend to pursue in the future. Many "liberal arts" degrees are available online, but science-y ones generally aren't, and I wouldn't expect them to be. So if you end up having an interest in something that isn't typically offered online, you're at a disadvantage. And this is only my experience - yours and other people's may be different.

Also, I think it's important to note that if your panic attacks are that bad, then maybe schooling shouldn't be a priority right now. There's nothing wrong with needing a break from school. Overall though, I wish you the best of luck in deciding what's best for you. That's the best you can do - just figure out what's the best option for you, and if you find that online school is the best for you right now (or possibly in general), then so be it!