How much does my personal story help me? Please read!

Applying to College
61

I have a daughter about your age. If she graduated high school at 14, I could not, in good conscience, send her away to college at that age. That would be irresponsible of me to do that as a parent. She’s not emotionally ready for that, because she’s not an adult…and neither are you.

Your place right now is to be at home with your parents until you’re an adult. Going to college at the local university is a great idea. I’m thinking that by the time you’re 18, you’ll be too far along in your degree to transfer to an “elite” school, but by then, you’ll have the maturity to understand that the university you go to doesn’t matter anyway.

62

@coolguy40 Thanks for your input. I will be going away to college at 16, it may not be an elite school, but I will be going off to college. NOTHING about me will change the night I turn 18. NOTHING.

63

@Homeschooler14 I take back what I said. You are 100% correct and your personal story is the greatest one of any college applicant ever. You obviously already knew that and just wanted affirmation.

64

@helpingmom40 No, my story is NOT the greatest. I asked does it make me stand out.

65

As a homeschooling mom with kids at T10 colleges, your thinking here is way off.

My kids are also very academically driven, and there is absolutely no way that they could have graduated high school in one year. They had academically demanding four years of high school, along with long-term, time-consuming EC’s that were meaningful to them.

You may have the test scores, but based on what you have written here, you are lacking the important components of course rigor and meaningful ECs.

66

I was doing high school courses on the side in middle school so I really took longer than a year.

67

You say key club and debate won’t get you anywhere, but neither will just a 35 or a 760 in Math 2 (just above 60th percentile) with that mindset.

I suggest you apply but think wisely - there are very many things that a typical 4-year graduate has accomplished or experienced that you will probably not - club leadership, advanced language classes, mathematics, and most importantly, for STEM, actual labs.

Learning a textbook and having an internal fact library is good, but not useful in college or really in the real world (this is my opinion so feel free to disagree).

Many schools (more so graduate schools) put taking a gap year in good light where you can grow, explore yourself, and put things to good use - of course taking a gap year isn’t for everyone.

I don’t particularly see a strong AP score in Economics, any math-related scores, objective science (like Bio, Chemistry, Physics) or even AP English Literature/Language. The scores you have are without a doubt good for the tests you took, but it takes more than that and “graduating early” isn’t necessarily a “wow” factor. You lack a lot of extracurricular experiences, what do you want to do? Did you involve yourself in a business club? Economics bowl? Did you intern somewhere? You will be compared to kids who took insane AP courses at full rigor in a public education system an hit the 36/1600/4.0 mark - but even that’s not the end-all since numbers can only get you so far.

But honestly, your responses are startling; nobody isn’t ambitious - we just temper our ambition with reality, reason, and our goals.

Being 16 and being 18 is very different - two years don’t seem like much, but your experiences, social life, social attitude, and ability to weigh the reality of life changes dramatically; you will mature.

I don’t think you know what “college” is.

It isn’t just a 4-year class where you get a degree and off to graduate school. It’s an experience that you cannot rush through or play in fast forward.

I am currently an 18-year-old taking a gap year, and to be honest, I would say I was very naive in retrospect.

As for taking college classes, that’s good, but don’t take too many - in fact, some schools will treat you as a transfer if you take a certain amount of college courses, and this makes it difficult to get into a “good” school however you define it.

Stats are also not everything - you can be as book smart as Albert Einstein, but if you don’t understand truly how everything flows or can’t socially participate, it will not only be difficult for you to fit in, but also find people able to relate to you - it’s simple psychology and at a teenage age, a year or two years difference is significant.

68

@HKimPOSSIBLE what do you mean you dont see a strong ap score in economics. I got a 5 on micro and macro.

69

Academically, you’re smart. Emotionally, you’re a typical 15 year old kid, and you sound every bit like a typical 15 year old kid. If you were my kid, I would say hell no to going away to college. The real education hasn’t finished yet. There’s emotional and spiritual education yet to finish, and you can’t learn that from books. They have to be learned through experience before you’re ready for the adult world.

I applaud your moral Christian values! But…like any typical teenage kid, you’re going to use that as a way to say, “See! I’m ready!” We have similar Christian values, and I get the same song and dance from my daughter too. No one is trying to deceive, I get that, but we know that, at your age, there is a lot you don’t understand about the adult world yet. Part of your emotional and spiritual education is learning patience.

70

Homeschooler14; I do think you are very bright, smart and hard working. wow! A high ACT and several APs and wizzing through 4 years in one year. There are lots and lots of teens who would love to be so smart!

But there’s a whole other side of being a teen - in HS and in college - that is the social/maturity side that you can not wiz through. You can’t force and learn maturity; and being so socially young in college just sounds so hard.

I have a D who started HS at age 13 for one month. She’s very bright, and can do the work. But boy, throwing her in a large, urban HS, and being on the dance team was a SHOCK to her, and she was exposed to and got involved with so many issues and situations she wasn’t ready for in those first few months. She’s seen so much now; but still sleeps with a teddy bear at night. There’d be even more differences in college.

I’m listening to NPR right now about the high rates of depression in teens stemming from social situations.

Do you know many kids who chose to hang out purposely with kids who are more than two years different from them? . It’s hard being an island; and I’m afraid that’s what could happen easily to kids who are really really young starting college.

If this situation were in my family, I’d by all means have my kid take a gap year; mainly for maturity sake.

71

@coolguy40 What are you trying to say? I’ll be going off to college, maybe not a super-selective one, but I’ll be going. Nothing anyone says on an online forum is going to change my mind. I simply asked if my story stands out for highly selective schools.

72

@bgbg4us I think I’m a special case. I get along great and have more in common with people older than me better than people my exact age. I’m not the same as your daughter.

73

@Homeschooler14, honestly, I think some of the negative responses you’ve gotten here stem from the fact that you don’t seem to be listening to the advice people are giving you. I don’t mean to be unkind, but I’m not quite sure why you’re continuing to post. I don’t see you asking questions like, “What can I do in the next few months to show colleges that I’m ready for a 4-year residential community?” or “What’s a productive way to spend a gap year that will still fulfill my thirst for knowledge?” Your original question has been answered. Rushing through high school may make you stand out, but likely not in the way you hope to.

You sound ready for the academic side of college, but as others have pointed out, college is about much more than what happens in the classroom. What do your parents think of your plan?

74

@Homeschooler14 My apologies - I only saw your scores in certain social sciences. But then again, do you have scores in the BCP science courses?

Also, when you say “I think I’m a special case. I get along great and have more in common with people older than me better than people my exact age. I’m not the same as your daughter.”

Where have you interacted on a long term, communal basis? An internship at J.P. Morgan? (Joking, or, who knows?), a science club? Economic/Business club? Investing Club? Have you been a leader in these activities? Have you been outside school clubs and activities? Are those adults your parents or family friends? Simply put, do you have “exposure”?

Many people “get along” with older people, but getting along is different from being in an active community together, growing, learning, and maturing as adults together.

What is your idea of a non “super selective” college?

I think if you want to go into business/economics, scout out some great business schools. AFAIK, UMadison has a great business program. You also have to think about smaller schools = more tight-knit community = how do you see yourself actively integrating yourself in?

I don’t mean to offend you or try to “grill” you with these questions, but they are ones to seriously consider.

75

OP, don’t know where you live, but if you are not dead set on attending a highly selective school, have you given any thought to attending a local school and living at home? That would take care of a lot of the age issues that might arise. You have a HS diploma and a 35 on the ACT. That’s not good enough in and of itself for super selective schools, but it is good enough for a lot of schools.

76

@Homeschooler14 What do your parents think of you going off to a distant college so young? Are they on board with this plan?

77

@HKimPOSSIBLE I have no AP scores in science. I am studying for SAT II in some science subjects. I assist my father in running a business, that is what stemmed my interest in that feild. I interact with my dad’s freinds who have thought me a lot about finance. I even talk to a family friend who used to teach finance at Wharton, he has also taught me a lot.

By not super selective, I mean outside top 30, maybe outside top 50. Schools with 30%+ acceptance rate. I know its difficult to rank schools.

78

Hi @Homeschooler14 -

I have two homeschooled kids. They’ve always been homeschooled. As a result, they both are nationally recognized in a certain unique extracurricular, regionally recognized in a different extracurricular, both have a zillion hours of community service, active social lives, and now one (soon both) take in-person classes at local colleges.

Both finished our local high school’s graduation requirements before either was even high school age.

I chose to make sure they got a traditional four years of high school and I will send them off when they are 18. They will have APs in every core course and they can keep learning material at deeper levels through dual credit. For example, my oldest will complete most of our local college’s advanced Spanish courses by the end of next year. My youngest will start at the cc next year to take multivariable Calculus and will likely go through the cc’d math offerings by the time she finishes her high school years. Both my two continue to dig deeper and deeper with their ECs.

There is always more you can do when you are homeschooled. You can use the rest of the usual years of high school to go as deep as you want in your core subjects, and to get even better at your ECs. By skipping the other years of high school, you miss out on so many opportunities.

A lot of gifted kids are homeschooled. Most of those gifted kids are aiming for top schools. You have serious competition.

My two kids are not unusual. Your level of academic prowess, while admirable, is not a stand-out in the application pools of tippy top colleges.

So I get that you’re smart, but there is so much more you can do with the other high school years - do them, and you’ll be in an even better place, both academically and personally, in which to apply to those top schools.

79

Yes, you sound like a teenager to me. To answer your question, the story is more of a liability, and I think you should avoid writing about it. To give a completely honest assessment of your story, it comes across as arrogant and entitled to such an extreme, that you test out of every class rather than receive the full benefit of your education. In essence, you’ve received a very expensive GED. You’re missing the benefit of patience, humility, hard work, accountability, consistency, and seeing things through to the end…even if you don’t like the class. That’s the definition of course rigor. The current attitude won’t serve you well in college, and that’s precisely why you’re not ready, sorry dude :smile:

80

I think this is what I and people here mean when you don’t seem completely understand what college is.

Regardless of your major, you WILL have to take science classes, advanced literature, and English courses. A major isn’t a “Let me just focus on this” - colleges also want to know that you have a basic and fundamental knowledge of BCP science courses, and an AP test demonstrates that.

As for your father running a business, what else have YOU done besides talking to a family friend?

Do you eat lunch, sleep, play sports, go to classes, and hang out with these “dad’s friends”?

We think you are academically capable of course, but we want what’s best for you. At age 16, you’re legally and socially very much still a kiddo. What do your parents have in plan for you?