<p>I'm 13 and a 10th grader. Skipped 3 grades. I would like to hear how other grade-skippers fared / are faring in the admissions process.</p>
<p>I would appreciate it if people would share their stories.</p>
<p>My S skipped 8th grade. He is in 11th now and just turned 16. He has always been very advanced in English and Social Studies. The only real problem we have encountered so far is his Math. He didn't do Algebra 1 in 8th because he skipped 8th. So he did Algebra 1 in 9th, Geometry in 10th, Algebra 2 this year, and will do Pre-calc next year. For that reason, he didn't do as well on the math portions of the PSAT, the January SAT, or the February ACT as he would have had he stayed in his grade level. He said there were problems on the exams that he simply didn't know how to do because he hadn't gotten that far in math yet. He will retake the SAT in June and should do better, but of course he can't redo the PSAT score for NMS.</p>
<p>How do you think you will feel about going off to college at such a young age? I have to admit I'm a little nervous about my son leaving home at 17, but I'm sure he will be fine.</p>
<p>I don't think grade skipping has an influence in admissions. It all depends on your high school record, etc.</p>
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For that reason, he didn't do as well on the math portions of the PSAT, the January SAT, or the February ACT as he would have had he stayed in his grade level. He said there were problems on the exams that he simply didn't know how to do because he hadn't gotten that far in math yet.
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<p>That is not necessarily why he couldn't do the problems. I took the SAT as a freshman without ever taking algebra and I did fairly well. In fact, since then I have taken AP Calculus as a junior and I don't think that class, or pre-cal for that matter, helped me an ounce on the SAT. There is no calculus on the SAT or precalculus. There is no trig, very little geometry... The first thing they teach you in any prep class you take (although I'm not sure of how true this statement is): 'The SAT is written on a 9th grade level. Students do bad because of time pressure and traps that ETS sets up.' I don't know about the ACT because everyone at my school looks down upon the ACT for some reason so I've never looked at ACT questions. I've heard there is trig on there though, so his grade skipping may have influenced his ACT score.</p>
<p>You're son is doomed for failure.</p>
<p>Just kidding. You have a very special son :).</p>
<p>I skipped the 6th grade. School has been great after that, and judging by the fact that you skipped 3 grades I am assuming you are not doing so bad yourself. Your accomplishments thus far are certainly very impressive, but here is my advice for admissions. I would say I was pretty successful for getting into Rice, Duke, Washington University in St. Louis and the UT Honors program, despite being rejected from Harvard and Yale. However, I do not attribute it to skipping a grade. What you did with that opportunity is what matters in admission - your academic record in high school, your involvement in extra curricular activites, community service, and interest in diversity, and of course the way you present such things in your application. Do not think that skipping 3 grades and getting straight A's will do the trick, consider you must be a well-rounded person. Don't get me wrong, you are a pretty impressive kid. Another thing - consider deferring your admission and take a year off (a lot of schools are fine with it) so you can grow a little, if you like the sound of it, and if it's possible, of course.</p>
<p>It's going to be pretty hard for you to go to college when you're 15, especially because I don't think many people in college (or anywhere) like to have in their same class someone 3 years younger than them... You might be left out. And, I think colleges have some kind of restrictions and limitations (for the housing and everything) for people that are under 17. There could be all sort of problems with you being so young.
What I advise you to do is go to your local Community College, get an Associates Degree in whatever you want, and then go to university when they're 17-18 and start as a freshman (rather than transfer). If you do well (which I assume you will), it can be very beneficial, and it might be easier for you to get into prestigious universities.</p>
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I'm 13 and a 10th grader. Skipped 3 grades. I would like to hear how other grade-skippers fared / are faring in the admissions process.
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<p>The people I knew at university who started at age 15-16 did not have a lot of romance or sex in their lives at college, whereas students a bit older than the average tended to have more than their peers. Grad school is not necessarily an environment in which the early starters can "catch up" on this.</p>
<p>LOL, since when did sex and romance come into play?! but yeah, the older you are relative to the population, the easier you'll find fitting into the social life. after all, it's a whole two, three years of lessons in social skills you're behind on.</p>
<p>I was 13 when I started 10th (I'll turn 17 just before college starts though)...</p>
<p>I never skipped a grade though. As far as I can tell (and I know people younger than me who've applied this past application season), it doesn't really affect admissions. For me, I got accepted to 8 out of 14, rejected from 5, waitlisted at 1. Accepted to Berkeley, Duke, JHU, Rice, Penn, CMU, Michigan, Northwestern. Waitlist at Yale, Reject HPMS and Cornell.</p>
<p>"I never skipped a grade though. "
My daughter's best friend is a year younger; he came from UAE and started kindergarten at 4 rather than 5. Same situation for you?</p>
<p>"That is not necessarily why he couldn't do the problems."
Just to clarify, he didn't do badly - he got a 670 on the math portion - but he said there were problems he didn't know how to do because he hadn't "learned that yet." Maybe his math teacher just didn't teach him what he needed to know, or he didn't recognize a certain type of problem presented differently. I assumed it was because was only part-way through Alg. II at the time.</p>
<p>Well, we (Shrivats is my twin), are actually from India, we've lived in Oman and now in the UAE, though. If my memory serves me right, around 4 at the start of 1st? (I'm counting backwards though :))</p>
<p>i skipped the first half of first grade. it was due to a complex series of moves. i lived in Venezuela and did kindergarden there, move to PA and did 1/2 a year of "prefirst" (like 2nd year kindergarden). then when i moved to VA, they didnt have that so they wanted to put me into kindergarden again. but my parents did want that so I tested into 1st grade cuz i moved in January. I dont really know if that counts. but is has resulted in me being one of the youngest people in my grade. ( I think there are 3 people younger than me but by a couple of days). </p>
<p>I am doing fine. i got into all of the colleges i applied to (VT, JMU, UMiami, CNU). i will be going to college when i am 17.</p>
<p>I skipped kindergarten and started first grade at five and a half, but that's not a huge difference in age (I'll turn 18 during my first year of college). I'll be attending Dartmouth next year. :)</p>
<p>I skipped kindergarten and 'reception' (this was in the UK ten years ago; the system was/is a little odd), and started the first grade at age four-ish. I'll turn sixteen at the end of this August, just before I start college. </p>
<p>As far as results are concerned, I was only accepted to one out of six (rejected by P, S, M, Cornell, UChicago), but it wasn't a very realistic college list (heavy on the reaches, especially considering that I'm an international student wanting financial aid). Not complaining at all, though -- Caltech next year.</p>