<p>Hi. I wanted some advice about college admissions.</p>
<p>I'm 14 years old (15 in April) and am a Junior in High School. I started Kindergarten early because my mom was (is) a Kindergarten teacher and thought I could handle it. Then, when I was in 4th Grade, I took off a year from school and my family traveled around the world. My mom home schooled me while we were gone. We got through so much that when we came home, I skipped 5th grade and went straight to middle school.</p>
<p>Now, I'm at least two years younger than most kids in my grade. I'll be 16 when I start college. However, I look and act like I'm 17 and have never had any problems socially. People are always amazed to find out I'm only 14.</p>
<p>Do you think this will be an issue when I'm applying to colleges? I'm mostly interested in Harvard or Yale. I got a 2350 on the January SAT, have a 3.9 unweighted GPA and am ranked 2/180 in my class. I'm also the Junior class president and will likely be president of my senior class. I plan to write my essay about something having to do with being so much younger.</p>
<p>Regardless, do you think they'd have a problem accepting me if I'll only be 15 when I apply?</p>
<p>I am an early graduate (17 when I go off to college), and the basic advice I got from the majority of the people I asked, was to contact the admissions representatives of the schools that you are going to apply to. When I called, they said that determining factor would be whether or not I was mature enough (even though I would be 17, not that far off from 18) for college. They suggested that I write an essay/brief statement on why I am graduating early. It was kind of implied that they wanted to see whether or not I've maxed out everything socially and academically. They seemed really concerned about the one year age difference.</p>
<p>For your case (since you aren't graduating a year early), I suggest that your friend send in an extra statement (basically exactly what you posted, but a bit more formal), explaining the situation to them. Have your friend write something else for the main essay, so they can see all sides of her/him.</p>
<p>If you want to know more details, just PM me. Best of luck to your friend.</p>
<p>17 isnt that big of a difference in college since your actually suppose to be 17 when you graduate from high school, not 18. I had alot of friends who graduated and entered college at 17 and we're put in the applicant pool like everyone else, It only matters when the difference is huge.</p>
<p>Now your going to be 16 when you enter college and you have the credentials to boot, I dont think you'll have a problem but make sure you explain everything to them. So they don't think that you were just skipping around for no reason, but it seems like your very intelligent.</p>
<p>i'm 16 (just turned a few months ago) right now and will graduate (if i continue the pace i'm going at) this june because i attend a school i which i can go at my own pace. i entered without credits this sept and have done 2 years of high school so far and will continue to do jr and sr year this spring. but i didn't apply to colleges this winter because i wasn't exactly a senior.. i was still a sophie in jan... soo its dfferent for me. i applied to competitive boarding schools, and if i dont get in (i hear tomorrow morning), then I will.. take a gap year or something! take classes at the local college and focus on my more artistic side after academic overload.</p>
<p>I just turned 15 and am a Senior. I have learned a lot in the process of applying to college. First, there seems to be a magical cut off for what is too young. That cut off tends to be 16. There are a few sites I can reference about other gifted kids, but you will need to pm me for that.</p>
<p>Second, do write about being younger in your essays. Every admissions officer I've worked with encouraged me to do that.</p>
<p>Some schools tend to appreciate the younger applicants, but not all. I ecourage you to take this summer to do a 4-8 week program at one of your top Universities. Colleges want to see that you can function well away from home, and ace their courses.</p>
<p>The line is very thin on the age range, but there are several colleges that recruit younger applicants exmp.(Carnegie Melon, Reed, Harvard...). Some colleges have made it clear that they will not take under a certain age exmp.(Amherst, Cornell, Swarthmore...).</p>
<p>I know when my son was a student at Carnegie M there was a 14 year old freshman in his class (a male), plus I know there was a 15 year old girl whom I believe was a sophomore. They were kids of professors.</p>
<p>I'm 16 years old and I'm a senior (as is my twin, big surprise there :)) and we've not encountered any problems with interviewers or during any part of our application procedure (we'll be 17 a couple of months before college). I know at least two 15 year old's applying to US colleges this year (I think both'll be 16 before college). So long as your friend can show his/her own maturity there shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>i think your friend should be fine! i'm 16 and in my second year at a community college, and i started when i was 14. i'm applying to transfer to uchicago hopefully (: but yeah, i'm pretty sure elite schools are all over that stuff! traveling around the world, skipping grades, class president, they'll probably come off as very mature.</p>
<p>The problem you may run into is with dorm living. You need to check with each school as some will not allow younger students in their dorms. We ran into this problem with one of my daughters and so she decided to take a year off, have fun, pursue her non-academic interests and go to college the following year...at 17.</p>
<p>I'm a fifteen-year-old senior (and if k_twin was talking about 'know online', then I'm one of the two he mentioned, I guess). </p>
<p>Made the mistake of not talking about this on my application, but did talk about it to my interviewers; the MIT one seemed reasonably impressed and certain that I was mature, the Princeton person was somewhat less encouraging. Still, I think that your friend should probably be fine, especially since they skipped bits of middle school rather than high school.</p>
<p>U of Pennsylvania is also receptive to young applicants. Friend's son entered as a freshman straight out of his Jr year of high school and now at the age of 20 is completing a BS and 2 MS degrees this spring.</p>
<p>I don't know what you're talking about when you say "you're actually supposed to be 17." About 95% of the kids I know will be 18 when they go off to college. Not that being 17 is an issue, I'm just saying I don't think it's the standard.</p>
<p>I was 17 when I went off to University (though I commuted from my home, so it was/is merely an extension of high school sorta). It makes little to no difference except one weird look I got from a prof one time. She was encouraging me to vote and my response was that I wasn't legally old enough. Asides from that amusing anecdote and the fact that most of my friends are now 23-25 (I'm 21 now) there's no difference at all. I knew one girl who was 16 and living in residence and no one treated her differently except for a few 'omg, you're 16!' reactions.</p>
<p>A lot of the kids around DC are older in high school. Not even starting first grade until they are 7. So when high school and college rolls around they are much more physically mature (for sports) and biologically mature, interested in much more adult things. Given that I have two questions: why would you want to be around a bunch of 18-22 year olds as a 14-15 year old? And, why would your parents want you to be around these adults? If you are so gung ho on missing out of the social aspects of the college experience, go to a school where you can commute from home. I would not be at all interested in babysitting a 15 year old as my roommate.</p>
<p>wow. hm. i can understand what you're coming from, but...this is just my personal experience, as someone who started college very early. there were some rough times in junior high with the age difference, but by college i think i've caught up. all my friends are college-age or working, and it's been a great experience. a lot of people actually don't believe me when i get to know them and i tell them my age at first. for a whole year actually, this one guy thought it was some sort of inside joke i had with my friends. i don't need to be babysat. i don't want to come across as snobbish, but people have told me that i seem very mature.</p>
<p>i'm not gung ho on missing out on social experiences. i can't speak for everyone, but in my personal circumstances, i kind of didn't have a choice but to start college early. if you're curious you can pm me. for a time i had hangups about missing the conventional high school experience, with school dances and all that, but i'm pretty happy now. i mean i have four extra years! i could take time off, i could go to the peace corps after graduation, or even write a book if i wanted to. there are disadvantages, but there are benefits too, and my age has never been an issue in my social interactions with 18-22 year olds.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your personal circumstances. I have been with the same group of kids since the 6th grade(I started 6th grade at 8 years old). Most colleges have more problems if you did your skip late than if you did it early. The reason for this is more of a social gap, which means you have not been around people older than you enough to appreciate social differences.</p>
<p>Another reason maybe gaps in your education. If you leave without completing certain criteria, it may cause problems in college. Sort of like the kid who can do calculus, but can't memorize his times tables.</p>
<p>After being with a particular group for 7 or 8 years, you can certainly adapt to the situation. Hence, there is no shock value when you go to college.</p>
<p>Some kids are 17 when they graduate high school but then again like it was stated before about kids from D.C being older. I live in Florida and alot of the kids I graduated with we're all mostly 17, I was one of the few who was actually 18. Maybe it varies state to state but I know here seniors are typically 17 when they graduate high school and a few weeks after they enter college.</p>