We all know the average age of a sophomore is 19-20 but we also know of people who start college early and it is possible to a 17 year old freshman or 18 year old sophomore. I was wondering, on average, how common or rare is this occurrence?
It does happen. I started college at 17 (graduated in Jan) and my daughter was 17 for her entire first semester (December birthday, started K at 4).
For my daughter and her grade school cohort, she and one other girl were 4 when they started K, and that girl turned 5 in Sept. Many of the other kids were already 6 or turned 6 soon after school started. In other parts of the country, it is not uncommon for 4 year olds to start K but in our school system that is rare.
but it isn’t rare or common. It also isn’t a big deal.
My D was 18 for part of sophomore year. It’s not a big deal.
The valedictorian when I was a senior in college was 18. I myself turned 18 part way through sophomore year. Definitely not a big deal.
are you talking about class standing or the number of years actually attended (i.e. 1 year = freshman, 2 years sophomore, etc)?
For class standing, for a lot of the better public schools, being a sophomore or higher when you enter the university because of having a ton of AP and/or DE credits is common.
It’s relatively common, some students start Kindergarten at 4 depending on the state birthday cutoff, some students skip a grade, some accelerate or earn sophomore status due to AP or dual enrollment. Probably lots of other reasons too.
Do you mean it isn’t uncommon?
@twoinanddone Are you saying it isn’t uncommon?
I don’t think it’s unusual at all. Different states have different cut off dates and ages for kindergarten. I started at a small school (our homeroom had 30 kids) and I went there right up through middle school. At least 3 if us had birthdays that meant we’d turn 18 our sophomore year of college.
it doesn’t seem unusual to me. My daughter was 18 and technically a junior when she started college due to dual enrollment credits. There are plenty of kids who live where the cut off is later, skip a grade, have college credits from high school etc.
Depends on your definition of uncommon. I accelerated a year in elementary school so was 17 most of my Freshman year. I met several other folks at my school who were in the same situation. So it’s not totally unheard of. But it’s not like there are thousands of students and a high percentage of the population. Just off the top of my head, maybe 1-10% depending on the school.
That is for actually entering your 2nd full year attending college at 18. Just about everyone my D knows was technically a “Sophomore” for classification/course selection at 18 either when they first arrived or after their first semester, due to >30 credits through AP, dual enrollment, etc. No one actually called, or considered, themself a Sophomore based on that.
I think that by pure stats, there are more 18 year old freshmen than 17 year old freshman. Sure there are kids who skip a grade but there are also kids who take a gap year. The averages are going to work out. Remember, every college freshman isn’t living in a dorm; some are married, some are starting school after the military or a religious mission, or playing jr pro hockey for a year.
I said it isn’t uncommonl because to me something unusual is rare. Most people in the world have brown or black eyes, but having blue eyes isn’t uncommon. There are plenty of 18 year old sophomores so therefore I don’t think it is rare. The majority are 19 or older.
According to your other threads you’re a college senior this year. You seem to have a history of hyperfocusing on random things. The only reason age might matter is if you’re interested in dating a freshman, but that’s the kind of thing you find out before you ask someone out. Other than that it doesn’t matter.