<p>I've officially been shut out of college. I've been released from all the wait lists and rejected everywhere else. So I guess the only thing I can do right now is take a gap year. I'm honestly extremely disappointed with the results, but I know that there's nothing I can do about it. Obviously, as an international student who needs a full ride to go to college, it won't be easy for me to be admitted anywhere. I'm okay, I guess, taking a gap year, but I just don't want to join a class of freshman where everyone will be at least a year younger than me. Most kids will be two years younger than me... I've always wanted to make friends my own age, but I feel like now I have no choice but to hang out with younger kids now. And, well, I don't think I'll fit it 'cause I'll be so old. Does anyone here have any experiences with being a 20 year old freshman in college? And is 18 really that much different from 20? My friends are telling me that having a social life will be hard 'cause I'll be an adult among a sea of students. I'm freaking out. Whenever I daydreamed about going to college, everyone was around my age, but the Class of 2019 will be so much younger. I feel like a loser.</p>
<p>It might be awkward adjusting at first, the first semester or year even. But at college there will be people up to 22/23 and likely grad students even older, so you can explore social groups that don’t align by year in college. There should be plenty of opportunities. And once you get into your department in your major it likely won’t matter how old anyone is. 18 yos are pretty immature so you may just not like having to deal with them the first year. Sophmores will be better adjusted to college life too.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to be much older than your peers, then why take a gap year. Seems like that would only make your problem worst, no?</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter and no one cares. Freshmen often range anywhere between 15 and 21 years old, and no one cares. It makes no difference. </p>
<p>That’s so young! No one will even notice unless you say something about it. I have friends who are much younger than me and much older than me (all freshman). I never noticed until they told me about it. Heck, there is a 35year old dude in most of my classes and he fits in just fine. It’s more about how you act, then how old you actually are. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This makes no sense. You will all be adults and you will all be students. If you think an eighteen-year-old is too young to hang out with you, then make friends with the tons of other twenty-year-olds that will be in college as well. I don’t see what the issue is.</p>
<p>It’s not a big deal. Many students in college have friends that are older or younger than they are (my main group of friends had an age range of about 4-5 years from the oldest to the youngest, and I had other friends that were outside of that range, as well). It’s not like when you’re in middle school and a thirteen year old seems impossible older than an eleven year old. You’re all adults, and you can make friends that aren’t exactly your age. Or, if it’s really that big of a deal for you, then you can make friends who are your age but are in a different year in college. That’s perfectly okay too and pretty common, especially considering there tends to be a mix of different years in classes, clubs, and housing.</p>
<p>You may want to see if there is an international housing option at the schools you apply to. They may help you make more comfortable, and from the people I tended to meet in the international housing at my school, there was a good number that were older than the “typical” age for their year in college.</p>
<p>This isn’t a big deal. I will turn 20 halfway through my freshman year and I have never even thought about it. I didn’t take a full gap year, but I’m from Australia where the school year ends in November, so I automatically had to take like 9 months off. There will be other people who took gap years too! And there will be sophomores, juniors and seniors around aplenty. </p>
<p>I’m 20. I have friends who are 18 all the way up into their 30’s.</p>
<p>No big deal.</p>
<p>Also. You could maybe take community college courses so that you graduate earlier? Or CLEP?</p>
<p>Fitting in won’t be an problem. The bigger issue is, what will be different after a gap year? You are aren’t likely to get a full ride or admitted anywhere that you were rejected. What is your plan?</p>
<p>Age will not be a problem at all, but getting financial aid is in general a big big obstacle for international students. There are only like 6 universities in the US that are need-blind to internationals and those are the colleges that are hardest to get into, for anyone. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the comments, everyone! I feel so much better now. @sundaypunch @perseverence I’m going to try to apply to some schools without applying for financial aid and hope for some merit scholarships. To others, I’m going to apply for financial aid and pray that I won’t get rejected haha. And I won’t be applying to any of the schools I applied to last year (except for one school that I really love). Last year’s college list was very naively made. I’m going to be a bit more meticulous next admissions round.</p>
<p>I agree with others, age doesn’t really matter, one of my closest friends right now in school is 35, I’m 21 and made friends with an English teach who was 25 while I was on study abroad and my best friend from high school has always been 2 years younger than me and we still chat and hang out to this day. It’s all perceptual. If you think of them as being completely different from you, they will be and you’ll have trouble getting along with them, but if you think of them as being similar (maybe the similarity of you’re all just starting out in this college thing?) you’ll form friendships easy and even younger and older students will want to be your friends. My biggest friend base freshman year was 20+ even though I was 18 because they were who I met in clubs and in my not-so-typical-for-a-freshman housing. They were really happy to help me adapt to college life and let me in about what classes to take and not to take and such so I think making friends regardless of age is really beneficial in university and that it’s easy with the right mindset ^-^</p>