<p>I skipped a grade so now I am 16 years old and a senior in high school.
My GPA is a bit low - 3.69 BUT it is only so because I made an international move in mid 11th grade.</p>
<p>Grades:
9: 3.5
10: 4.0
11:
first sem.: 4.7
2nd sem.: 3.1 (I moved during this time, became very ill.)</p>
<p>My course load for 12th grade:
IB HL PSYCHOLOGY
IB HL BIOLOGY
IB HL ENGLISH
IB HL FRENCH
IB SL MUSIC
IB SL MATH
TOK</p>
<p>Then on top of these courses I also must take one more semester of US Gov't, and two semesters of US History. I am loaded in terms of course work because of my intl. move. So I am OBVIOUSLY challenging myself. </p>
<p>My test scores are pretty average; I had not studied for them at the same. I am taking the SAT this weekend so I am expecting a 200 point jump:</p>
<p>ACT - 27
SAT - 1900</p>
<p>So, is it in my best interest to wait until I turn 17 to send my application or does that not have an impact at all? I have heard that younger applicants are looked down upon.</p>
<p>If you are a senior, there is no benefit to waiting to send in an application based on your birth date. My D was a year ahead and was 17 when she started college. It made no difference.</p>
<p>You’re not really that young. Most seniors graduate at 18, but then there are others like me who have summer or late birthdays and graduate at 17. My twin brother graduated early at 16, and is 17 now in college, and I do dual enrollment at a college, it doesn’t really make a difference.</p>
<p>I graduated from highschool 3 months after turning 17, and currently finishing my undergrad at 21…and will make a career change. In my opinion, it’s helpful to be younger because you’ll feel ahead… and in case you want to switch to something else or need extra time to finish x course you won’t feel pressured in any way. Hope this helps :)</p>
<p>I went to college at 16, graduated at 20, and had my PhD in hand by the time I was 25. Being young for my class in school just helped me get a head start on my career. If you are female, ambitious, and you want eventually to have children, this can be an advantage because you can get yourself well-established professionally before your fertile years are entirely over. </p>
<p>I did change my major in midstream, and possibly if I had waited I would have had a clearer sense of my true interests and goals. On the other hand, the first couple of years of college are, for most people, pretty general anyhow, so I didn’t lose any time. Moreover, I’m not sure I would have known what my interests and goals were before taking the classes that clarified them for me.</p>
<p>You are not going to improve your high school grades by waiting a year to apply to college. If you don’t think your high school performance reflects your true ability, apply to a solid school that will accept you, do very wel there, and then transfer to a more selective school.</p>