<p>okay.. for some reason not explainable ( family issue and some more complicated reasons)
i ended up being a 19 year old senior , turning 20 next year (by the time of graduaion) in high school. i'm not sure if there was any precedent case of a high school student who was this old like me, which i think is not very likely.. by the way, i'm an asian intel student.
so i was reading a thread posted earlier about taking a gap year after getting rejected from some of the top schools and found that it's not looked at as a positive thing at all..in fact there were many cases of taking gap years who got rejected from the schools they applied an year earlier again.. and i thought mayb the adcoms would see my case as something equivalent to that. i mean taking a gap year..or two gap years..
i have fairly high SAT scores..710/800/780(reading,math,writing) and 800/800/800/800 (math2c,physics,world H,korean..) and an almost 4.0 unweighed gpa..my ECs are okay. but these aren't the issue right now..
the only things i'm worried about is being almost too old to b a highschool senior..
here's my question..is being a 19-year-old senior gonna hurt? if so, how much?
and if you guys have seen any case like that, please tell me..oh i applied to the ivys and some other top schools..</p>
<p>I don’t think that your situation is going to be looked at in the same way at all.</p>
<p>But even if it is, the problem with taking a gap year is not necessarily that it’s viewed BADLY. It’s that some people expect that after taking a gap year, colleges that previously rejected them will accept them. And unless the college’s standards change, that isn’t going to happen.</p>
<p>wait if you’re 19 this year. you’re 20 next year? i never realized that, i thought you just added the one to the side and became 191</p>
<p>@daman11: Wow, that was a pretty funny comment</p>
<p>There are 19 year old seniors who will turn 20 by the time they graduate. Colleges won’t look at that at all. </p>
<p>Kids who come to this country are often placed in grades below their ages to give them time to “catch up” with the language.</p>
<p>Colleges will not care. What they care about are your stats. Top colleges also care about your ECs. Public universities care about your state of residence. If you have financial need, colleges also will care about whether you are a U.S. citizen or international student.</p>
<p>“y the way, i’m an asian intel student.
so i was reading a thread posted earlier about taking a gap year after getting rejected from some of the top schools and found that it’s not looked at as a positive thing at all.”</p>
<p>Anyone who said that was wrong. A productive gap year can strengthen students’ applications. It’s just highly unlikely to result in an acceptance to a student whom a top college college previously had rejected.</p>
<p>One thing a gap year would hurt is the chance for merit scholarships at many schools (if merit is desired ). Many merit colleges specifically state that merit is for high school seniors who will be enrolling in the following fall.</p>
<p>I have the feeling that colleges wouldn’t not give merit aid to an outstanding student applying during a gap year after high school. After all, colleges use merit aid to lure outstanding freshmen. S got merit aid to college when he applied during his post high school gap year.</p>
<p>What colleges typically don’t use merit aid is to lure transfers. The exception is that some 4-year publics have merit aid for transfers from in state community colleges.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I’m just going by what some school specifically state on their websites. </p>
<p>However, I guess if a student who’s considering a gap year wants merit money, he/she should contact various schools as a senior to get a written commitment that merit would still be given after the gap year. I wouldn’t advise a student to assume that merit will be offered, only to have the student disappointed to learn that his gap year ended up costing him thousands of dollars in merit money.</p>
<p>Better to be safe than sorry, if merit money is needed/desired.</p>
<p>In private school, this is rather quite common.
At least in my school, almost every year, there is someone like you. Not my class, but my previous class and the next class have someone like you.
You’re fine.</p>
<p>What you need to do is have an explanation of your circumstances in the “additional information” section. Thats what I would do.</p>