<p>Feldy? Who's Feldy?</p>
<p>Feldy is someone who made post #24 in this thread back on P2.</p>
<p>"and my birthday is in the middle of december"</p>
<p>did you steal my birthday?</p>
<p>fess up</p>
<p>Well.....if you're birthday was on December 14, then we're gonna have to compare birth times......I'm pretty awesome, because I was born on December 14 (12/14) AT 12:14. Yep, in case you were wondering, that makes me a messiah child. :-)</p>
<p>mootmom: Thank you so much! I think I'm in love with you! :D You're always answering my questions! Thank so much! :)</p>
<p>Noday42: That's really cool. I'm born on June 28, 1990 at 12:05 PM. Are you wondering what the connection is? Nothing! I just wanted to say it. ;)</p>
<p>Wow, Visali, you're really young! Are you graduating early?</p>
<p>k-mazing: To answer your question, no, I'm not graduating early. I was born in India, and in India, you start school a year earlier than America. I live in America right now, and when I came here, I just continued my studies from where I dropped off in India. </p>
<p>Please don't be happy that I'm going to enter college at 17. I'm not, but hey, I can't do anything about it so I deal with it. I have no other choice. You see, because of my age, I missed a lot of things. I missed so many opportunities, and I still am because I'm either ignorant about it or not qualified for it. </p>
<p>For example, I still can't get a job. I tried to apply when I was 15 with a permit. No one wanted it, and right now, I'm still applying to places, but all the jobs are taken. I really want a job to earn money for college. Also, I live in a small town so not many oppurtunities here, but then again, I don't know everything about this area.</p>
<p>Plus, when I came to America, I was clueless. I knew nothing about the school system or college at all. Even now, I don't think I know everything about the American school system. In India, you have to get awesome grades to get into top colleges. That's it. Grades are the only thing that mattered. Here, you have to be involved in so many things and etc. </p>
<p>I spent my whole life studying basically because that's what my mom told me to do. She was raised in India so I think it's understandable why she only cares about grades. Now, it's a little too late to learn a skill for a sport or whatever because you have to take time to apply for colleges and etc. I feel like I've done nothing in my life, and when I want to win a big award or something, I can't because I either haven't accomplished enough in my life to get it or don't have the skill for it. Or I don't meet their requirements. </p>
<p>Sorry about this rant. The fact that I haven't accomplished has been bugging me for weeks. A part of me is hesitating to apply to MIT. I mean, I am involved in many things, but will the admission officers look and understand my situation or will they want someone who is more well-rounded and has tons of big national awards? I think they'll choose the well-rounded people with many national awards. Once again, sorry about this rant. I didn't mean to spill out my problems. </p>
<p>But yeah, the main point of this whole thing is to tell you that you NOT graduating at 16 years old is a good thing. Sure, you get out of college early, but is it worth it? I don't think so. I would rather feel like I accomplished something and have more opportunities open to me before college instead of feeling so smart for graduating early. I am not smart. I am just a hard worker. :)</p>
<p>P.S.- I have won awards so don't think I'm a complete loser. :P</p>
<p>Visali, given what you have said above, you may want to consider a gap year before beginning college. (Or perhaps before applying, but that's a somewhat different thing.) Many schools, MIT included, will allow you to defer your admission for a year, during which time you can get involved in activities you were not able to pursue before for some reason. Just something to consider...</p>
<p>Grr, this is my third time trying to post the message...hopefully it works :)</p>
<p>What you wrote really made a lot of sense to me, Visali. </p>
<p>I'm a little young for my grade, too. I always wished that I could graduate early and was pretty upset that my parents made me stick with "the people I started out with." I felt bored and unchallenged for most of the time I was in school and thought that "skipping ahead" would allow me to get to the more interesting material quicker. I guess that in my desire to convince my parents my idea was good, I ignored a lot of the drawbacks of graduating early. Your post really opened my eyes up to both sides of the decision. </p>
<p>I do know a little about how frustrating it can be with age requirements, though. It's hard to find a program that looks perfect, only to read later that you're not old enough :( </p>
<p>I tend to think mootmom's suggestion of a gap year is a good one and I even considered a gap year myself a few months ago. However, I ultimately had a hard time finding a program that "fit me." It seemed like most of the high school-based gap year programs didn't offer the math and science classes I wanted, while the others that did had age requirements of 18 years or older. Two programs that I did find interesting were fairly non-academic and leaned more towards the independent/adventerous side. The first was Where There Be Dragons, a program where you spend a semester traveling all over and experiencing the culture of 1 of about 4 regions that you get to pick from (I think they were: China, India, Latin America, and another one). Another program I looked into was City Year. It was recommended by many posters on this message board. In City Year, you spend a little under a year volunteering in a community of your choice (one of about 10 sites located throughout the country). It looked pretty rewarding and the age requirements were not a problem. In addition, you are payed a "small" stipend each month, and a scholarship at the end of the year too, to use on college education. I'm just throwing these ideas out there and hopefully they'll be helpful to you or another person reading this message board.</p>
<p>Also, I wouldn't worry about feeling like you "haven't accomplished anything." I think everybody feels that little twinge of self-doubt when applying, or at least that's what I keep telling myself ;) I've been pretty stressed out the last couple weeks about this whole process and have a feeling I won't be sleeping much for at least another of couple of months. Hopefully, we'll both get good news in December and be able to relax :)</p>
<p>P.S. Your English is very good for a non-native speaker!</p>
<p>mootmom: I have considered that, but my parents won't approve of it. My sister was in the same situation as me 4 years ago, and now, she's doing fine. They'll expect the same out of me. Plus, there isn't much I can do around my area, and my mom isn't willing to let me go far away. She tells me to do what I can in the environment I'm in and get into a good college. </p>
<p>She doesn't know that I want to go to MIT. I haven't told my parents about it. Maybe, they do know because I show a lot of interest towards MIT than my other college choices, but I personally haven't told them. First, I want to get accepted, and then, I'll worry about persuading them into letting me go.</p>
<p>Who knows? Maybe, I might end up rejected and then, I won't even have to worry about persuading my parents. I want to apply. I love MIT. I can't forget about it. Just the name brings a smile to my face. I may not be the smartest or most well-rounded person in the world, but I want to try. I'll give up after I get rejected. Then, I'll know it's hopeless. </p>
<p>Until then, I can't give up. My family and my school will expect me to apply for colleges this year and to attend college next year. Regardless of my age, they see me as a regular senior. So, I will apply to colleges and attend some university. MIT or not. I will go to college next year. My parents won't allow me to do anything else.</p>
<p>k-mazing: First of all, thanks for compliment. :D I have read about gap years from Matt's blog, but my parents won't approve of it. Read what I said to mootmom. And you're right about the doubts. When I'm filling out applications and they ask me what I've been doing with my free time, it makes me frustrated. I don't want them to think I'm lazy or something because I'm not. </p>
<p>I have a tendency to stress a lot, and once again, you're right. First semester is going to be full of stress. Good luck to you, k-mazing! :) Hopefully, we both will be accepted.</p>
<p>visali, I'm sure you can come up with something good to talk about on your 100-word essay - sports essays are a little boring anyway :-) heck I wrote about old-time radio (<a href="http://www.old-time.com/toc.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.old-time.com/toc.html</a>)
Despite the parents of many south/east asian high school students being a little crazee about school (i notice this a lot being a halfie), the applicant's coolness can definitely shine through. I believe (or at least hope) that mit adcom is cognizant of this situation
As for your age, that's definitely no problem in any vector; lots of people skipped grades or the like at MIT, you're the same age I was for my year :-) And many people were a lot younger
You might want to consider talking to your parents about applications before you apply - but think through your essays and so forth in your own way of course; that is, shoot from the hip a little
My relationship with my parents got very very rocky around the time of my college app process, it's probably healthy</p>
<p>And don't stress it, you're a natural</p>
<p>River Phoenix: Thank you. I hope MIT will understand my situation. What do I need to talk to my parents about during the application process? I mean, I'll be the one who's going to write it. You see...a part of me is afraid to tell my parents that I want to attend MIT right now. They might discourage me, and that's the last thing I want right now. So, I want to delay talking to them about this. </p>
<p>When I'm filling out the application, I have hope to attend MIT. I'm afraid that if I talk to them, they'll try to destroy that hope. I'll talk to them after I'm finished with the application. Then, before I submit it, I'll talk to them since I do need money for the application fee. If you disagree with my plan, please tell me or what you think about my plan.</p>