This is my first post here on CC but I’ve been lurking for a while (lol). I know there are other threads like this but none of them seem to answer my questions. I skipped two grades in elementary school, meaning I’m two or three years younger than my peers and will be applying to colleges when I’m fifteen. What I’m wondering is if I have the same stats (scores, extracurricular activities, and achievements, etc.) as a person two or three years older than me, will I have an advantage? Obviously, I know I can’t rely solely on age to get me into college, but I’m curious to see what effect (if any) it has on admissions.
No. There is no advantage.
If anything it can be a disadvantage as colleges may be concerned about your maturity and ability to handle a college environment. You may want to consider taking a gap year before you apply to college.
I’m kinda in the same boat; I skipped second grade and will still be 16 when I apply. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t help, unfortunately.
Agree with the others. You need to consider if you are ready for a college environment. There is a world of difference between being 15 and being 18, which is the age most kids will be. Many residential colleges won’t be keen to have you.
In your shoes, I would take a gap year. Or apply, and defer for a year, at least. There is no rush to grow up and become a bill-paying adult. Do some fun stuff, do interesting stuff, get a part time job, enjoy a year of freedom from books and school work. Sure, we all see stories in the news of the kid who graduates with a degree at the age of 18, but personally, I would never wish that on my kid. You are not going to find many peers, if any, as a 15 year old college freshman. When these stories are in the news, inevitably these students live at home with their parents. I actually think it might be very isolating. Good luck.
You may want to look at Simon’s Rock which is a college geared for younger students.
I don’t know that a gap year is necessary. If you skipped two grades and you’re applying when you’re 15, you should be 16 when you start college. Two years isn’t that big a deal IMO, and if you’ve done ok in high school with this age difference college shouldn’t be too much different. I have people in my grade who are a year and a half older than me and it doesn’t seem like too much of a problem.
I believe I read once that you have to be at least 16 to attend Princeton so you can’t apply there if you won’t be 16 by September of the year you are to enter. Other schools may have similar rules. My D’s bestie will be going to Harvard this September and won’t turn 17 until October.
Minors on campus and in dorms can actually worry colleges. More attention is paid to the safety of a minor in the care of a college, and the resources have to be available to do this. One of my daughter’s assigned lab partners in a Bio class freshman year was a 13 year old little genius guy. She said she felt bad for him. Going away to a university was hard enough at 18, she couldn’t imagine doing it so young. He had a steward who checked up on him, and a curfew, and help with things like laundry and shopping…which seems so weird given his IQ…but he was still a 13 year old. They housed him with a couple of other younger kids, but 13 is way younger than 15, which I think was the age of his youngest room mate. Seems like a tough road for you smarty pants folks. I wish you all the best.
@nasaaa Feel free to PM me if you want. My daughter skipped two grades prior to HS. Out of the 14 schools she applied to, 4 were complete reaches (Ivy, near Ivy), another 5 were solid reaches (based on scores they were matches, but so selective they are really reaches), 4 matches, and 1 safety (guaranteed admission, so no more safeties were needed).
All in all I did not think her age negatively affected her chances at most of the colleges. And the way a letter was worded from one of the reaches that accepted her, I felt her age may have helped her (this college brags about crafting classes, not just admitting the best scores). She ended up getting into 6 schools (three of them reaches) and wait listed at 3 others. Is being so young an advantage in admissions? - probably not at the largest or most selective schools, but at small and selective schools where admissions take a closer look at each applicant, it could set you apart.
And I totally agree with @callogan44 - two years isn’t a huge difference. If you skipped the grades in elementary, you’ve already been around older kids throughout all of HS.
Best of luck,
–S.F.