Assuming that the typical maturity and poise of a high school student are present, how does graduating high school at 16 affect admissions? Does it make it easier to get into HYPSM?
Let’s say someone skipped two grades, specifically one in kindergarten and one in middle school. I think that skipping these grades makes this student’s significant accomplishments look even more impressive because the given student is succeeding in an environment of peers 2 years older than them, but that’s just me.
This person has a 3.97 GPA with an extremely rigorous course load and a 2360 on their SAT. The student also has extremely exceptional (and unique) ECs, will be writing great essays, and will be receiving phenomenal letters of rec. Keeping all this in mind, in terms of admissions at the elite universities mentioned above, will this student have improved chances of admissions?
Also, the letters of recs will really comment on the students leadership skills and the student has done multiple summer activities that entail being mature enough to leave home for weeks at a time, so the student will have no issue with being a college freshmen who is considerably younger than their peers.
I would say that it would be taken into consideration, but wouldn’t make or break the admissions. If the student wouldn’t have been accepted without having skipped the grades, I doubt that they would then be accepted. It definitely doesn’t hurt, though. I think that things like the unique ECs are definitely far more important.
Based on my own personal experience, best case scenario it’s neutral; more likely to be a slight negative.
The downside to skipping a grade is that you’re competing with older kids. Doing so successfully doesn’t get you bonus points; it only keeps you from being at a disadvantage.
(My D is grade skipped and was young for grade before the skip. She’ll graduate high school at 16. This is the same advice I’d give her.)
I agree with skieurope and allyphoe. Neutral to slight negative. My son graduated when he was 16, just short of 17. I know that there were teachers in his high school who were skeptical of him, and tried to hold him back from advanced material. I suspect he encountered a little skepticism when he applied to college. I think that folks looked at him a little more closely.
@allyphoe but don’t you think competing with older kids and doing well shows how much potential you have? That’s what would seem like a hook to me: if I was an admissions officer and I saw two identical resumes - one for a 16 year old and one for an 18 year old - I would say, “wow, if this 16 year old is as good as this 18 year old, just imagine where the younger one will be 5 or 10 years down the line.” @skieurope Do you understand that logic? Doesn’t that maybe make your “none whatsoever” comment seem a little hyperbolic?
Not a hook. A hook is something in the college’s own self interests and being two years younger offers them zip.
if I was an admissions officer and I saw two identical resumes - one for a 16 year old and one for an 18 year old - I would say, “wow, if this 16 year old is as good as this 18 year old, just imagine where the younger one will be 5 or 10 years down the line.”
You have a lot to learn about what these colleges really look for. Get on it.
@skieurope Oh, so you think it’s a regular thing for someone to graduate high school at 16? Just to let you know, out of all the kids I have worked with in the past 10 years, this given student is the first one I have ever met that will be graduating so young, and quite frankly, they are still one of the most qualified applicants I have ever met. Amazing grades, amazing ECs, and overall amazing character. I’d be curious to see if you’ve even met a kid who has graduated so young.
@lookingforward A lot to learn? Is that a joke? You have no idea what type of experience I have with college admissions - you have no idea how much I’ve “learned” - so I’m going to help you out and recommend that you don’t make comments like that.
So let me put it this way. Lets say two kids - one age 16 and one age 18 - started identical companies and both companies did $100,000 in sales over the course of 2 years. You wouldn’t be even a little more impressed that the younger kid was able to accomplish such a feat while simultaneously being 2 years younger than their peers? If I was the one reviewing this situation, I would be flabbergasted by the fact that the 16 year old was able to do so much while being so much younger than their peers. To me, at least, it deems this applicant “very unique” ( @skieurope ).
Here’s what’s really unique: Being named a Rhodes scholar at age 18. I met a girl, NIna Morishige, who did that back around 1980 or so.
I had several friends in my high school class who graduated at age 16. That’s why I became valedictorian - all the really smart kids had already gone to college!
@MaineLonghorn It sounds like your peers left after their junior year. This student, however, will be completing all 4 years of high school and then graduating.
@MaineLonghorn Nowadays, students seeking admission to top tier universities wouldn’t even consider graduating high school in 3 years because just about every Ivy League school asks for 4 years of some subjects.
And just so you know, I regularly deal with some kids who are not very bright that can graduate in 3 years because they have completed their credits. No correlation there.
OP, you don’t seem to like the answers you are getting, but I also agree that entering college at 16 may be viewed as a slight negative. There may be concerns around whether the student is emotionally mature.
@MaineLonghorn Actually, I don’t think people deal with this kind of a situation very often, so I’m trying to paint the complete picture before a verdict is reached.
@suzy100 And that’s what I’m worried about: “emotional maturity”. The thing is that this student is actually far more mature than most 18 year olds I deal with and has spent many weeks at a time away from home at different camps and has handled themselves extremely well and been very successful at those camps. I actually know for a fact that this student’s guidance counselor was quite shocked when she heard that this student was only 15 (will be graduating at 16) because she thought they were much older. She has said that she will write about how this student is so young but carries themselves with so much maturity and poise. Do you think that that’s enough to get over this issue of maturity?
Sorry, OP, but a number of us do know what the HYPSM level looks for and wouldn’t ever think being 16 and having accomplished X and Y trumps being 17 or 18 and having accomplished X and Y.
I do agree there is a slight negative, because the app gets reviewed for, among other things, a mature perspective, some assurance the kid will thrive with others who are mostly 18. And that the level of personal challenge and resilience match- which is NOT about the resume, but what one’s words and perspective convey. Or not. For the elite holistics, “the rest of the picture” is critical.
This is why I steer you back to the college’s own expectations and values. I don’t know were you learned they might be impressed by being 1-2 years younger, but I have never seen that, nor heard it.
And, nor is starting a 100k company any sort of tip, if the requisite personal attributes aren’t there.
@lollollol Why did you ask this question if, by the looks of it, you’re so certain this is a positive. You asked a question the community gave you an answer but you’re not accepting it.