<p>Alright so my friend here is about to turn 17 and we're going into Junior year. I am 15 as I skipped a grade.</p>
<p>See, her parents kept her home an extra year so she would be more mature/intelligent than the other kids. And guess what, it worked! She's probably going to be the valedictorian. I mean she's intelligent regardless of her age, but I feel that I am just as intelligent as she was when she was my age. However, she is over a year older and is a whole lot smarter than I am (but I'll probably be Salutatorian based on teachers' comments).</p>
<p>But is that fair?
She actually gets a WHOLE BUNCH more opportunities than I do because of her age.
1. She gets her license earlier and is able to commute to more places (whereas my parents don't drive me ANYWHERE. I live on an island and there is no way off unless you drive over the bridge or you swim 2-3 miles..)
2. There are SO MANY internships I could have done this summer, however they ALL require you to be 16 (I am so p#ssed about this)
So while all I have is a job at a science museum and shadowing my dad at a hospital this summer, she has 2 incredible internships that I'd kill to have.</p>
<p>When college starts in the fall, she'll be 19 (she turns 19 on September 2nd) and I'll be 17 (turning 18 in November). </p>
<p>Sorry I'm just steaming.
So if you say that no age doesn't make a difference, then thank you. I'll go ahead and beat myself up for skipping the 4th grade.</p>
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<p>The difference is in maturity, not intelligence. Plenty of two-year-old children are more intrinsically intelligent than me, but I’m more mature and knowledgeable because I’ve been around longer and my brain is more developed.
Colleges are sometimes reluctant to admit younger kids because they’re less mature, but this usually only affects people who graduated early by skipping a year of high school and rushing through it in three years instead of four, thus missing out on important opportunities for growth. Having skipped a year of elementary school will probably be considered less relevant. </p>
<p>Colleges take into account the opportunities that were available to you. It’s not fair that some people get to go to better schools than me with more AP classes. It’s not fair that I come from a rural area with no internship opportunities. But these things won’t affect my college admissions prospects because I’m not going to be directly compared to people who were more or less privileged than me.
Likewise, you’re not going to be directly compared to your friend or anyone else. Your accomplishments will be viewed in context.</p>
<p>Thank you^
That’s what I needed. I guess I can’t really compare myself to what I remember from her a year ago. Heck, she’s probably still more intelligent.</p>
<p>But I see you’re from Cleveland. My mom lives there for the time being and I was actually supposed to move there as well this year, but I’m staying where I am in California with my stepdad because of the lack of opportunities/ school system over there. I can see where you’re coming from.</p>
<p>My high school isn’t in Cleveland (it’s in a rural part of northern Ohio where I lived before I moved to Cleveland). Same idea, though.</p>
<p>Doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>That said I see zero reason to skip a grade ever tbh. I’m also a year older for my grade but I had a disability as a youngster which is now gone.</p>
<p>My daughter started kindergarten at 4 yrs. old and college at 17. She was admitted, along with scholarships, to some amazing programs. She did not have much work/internship experience, but did participate fully in school ECs. She excelled throughout college and law school.
Her brother will be 19 when his college classes start. Neither kid was accelerated (skipped) nor held back, just happened that way in our area, due to a change in school enrollment cut-off dates.
That much age difference isn’t going to be an issue. If anything, my daughter was more mature starting college than my son will be. It is just individual personality.</p>