<p>What effect does skipping a year of high school have on admission to ivies and other top schools? Does it work for you or against you?</p>
<p>I wouldn't do it. Don't try to skip life.</p>
<p>Hey, I skipped senior year astrife, and I am having a better life in college than I ever did in high school. It really depends on the person to see what parts of "life" are more worth living.</p>
<p>Anyways, dufus 3709, forgive me, but I'm not sure if you are asking about applying your junior year to skip senior year, or having at some points through KG-12 skipped a grade and are now a senior. Either way though, I don't think it really matters, and they view you just the same as any applicant. But, if you are a junior applying early, don't expect them cut you some slack just because you are a year younger. You will be expected to show the same level of strength and preparation in your application as a senior student with a year more experience.</p>
<p>DONT DO IT!!! Really. I'm talking from experience. You can look up my profile from chances threads or through a search, but in a nut-shell, here's what happened. I moved from Norway to Korea at the end of the 9th, and skipped the 10th. In my senior year, I applied to 6 schools in England, and got accepted at 5 of them (including Imperial College, ranks next to Oxford and Cambridge for Engg.) Then in come my decision letters from 5 schools in the US: Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Princeton, and GAtech. Guess what - all 5 were rejects. Yes. Even GATech where I had legacy. This year I applied ED Princeton after getting rejected last year, and guess what - REJECT. Now only 5% get rejected ED Princeton, and my stats are NOT so bad so as to get me eliminated in the beginning itself. I had decent AP scores, slightly lower-end SATs, solid GPA, good recs, good essays, and very good ECs. The thing that could have screwed me over? Skipping a year. DONT DO IT!</p>
<p>If you've got the brains, then you won't have much problem handling the academics. But skipping a year really kills your EC's. I know from experience too.</p>
<p>And then there's those of us who think that taking an <em>extra</em> year between high school and college is a good thing.</p>
<p>We were advised by almost everyone that a post-graduate year at a boarding school would be looked upon favorably -- and it was!</p>
<p>My son will start college <em>next fall</em> after graduating in 2005 from public high school and graduating in 2006 from an elite boarding school.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>In my senior year, I applied to 6 schools in England, and got accepted at 5 of them (including Imperial College, ranks next to Oxford and Cambridge for Engg.)>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>So why didn't you attend one of these schools? And did you apply there this year again? The US schools you applied to are HIGHLY competitive...all of them, including GaTech.</p>
<p>Also...doing a PG year which is essentially ADDING a year to high school is very different than skipping a year which is essentially deleting a year of high school. Most kiddos doing a PG year following four years of HS DO mature and gain skills which make their college applications more favorable.</p>
<p>I didnt attend this year because I wanted the flexibility to change major in between my undergrad studies - a flexibility that UK schools, despite their academic strength - do not offer. In the middle of the year, I realised econ or something along those lines and not engg for me, and imperial was good mainly in engg. I had to change course before I joined in the uni that offered the best econ course out of the lot that I had got into, which was U of Warwick. And in my opinion Princeton, Wharton, etc > Warwick so thats why I applied again.</p>
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DONT DO IT!!! Really. I'm talking from experience. You can look up my profile from chances threads or through a search, but in a nut-shell, here's what happened. I moved from Norway to Korea at the end of the 9th, and skipped the 10th. In my senior year, I applied to 6 schools in England, and got accepted at 5 of them (including Imperial College, ranks next to Oxford and Cambridge for Engg.) Then in come my decision letters from 5 schools in the US: Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Princeton, and GAtech. Guess what - all 5 were rejects. Yes. Even GATech where I had legacy. This year I applied ED Princeton after getting rejected last year, and guess what - REJECT. Now only 5% get rejected ED Princeton, and my stats are NOT so bad so as to get me eliminated in the beginning itself. I had decent AP scores, slightly lower-end SATs, solid GPA, good recs, good essays, and very good ECs. The thing that could have screwed me over? Skipping a year. DONT DO IT! </p>
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<p>Ermmm.. you weren't necessarily rejected because you skipped a year, you know. Maybe you just weren't good enough to get in.</p>
<p>In view of how admissions work at the very top schools, I don't think that anyone should confuse how "good" they are with whether or not they were accepted. Adcoms evaluate the app, not the person. It is naive to think that adcoms can really understand the entire person based upon their application form, even if it does include a short essay.</p>
<p>dufus - high school seniors need to commit your post to memory! :)</p>
<p>I completely agree with dufus. I mean, I might get a 50 points lower on the SAT than a kid who gets in, but that really doesnt make me "not good enough". Maybe the adcom had a bad day when he/she looked at my app. At least I'd like to think that way ;) </p>
<p>Btw search for a ccer name jwlee. He managed to get into caltech last year. Awesome SATs...actually, STUNNING SATs and fantastic APs. Great ECs. Rejected from all the top colleges except Caltech. </p>
<p>oh and by the way, he graduated early. Coincidence? Ehhemm..</p>
<p>This is to look at the whole early graduating bit in terms of college acceptances. One should probably look at high school as a time where you can pursue ECs etc. that you really enjoy, without much strain of other responsibilities that enter into your life when you go to college.</p>
<p>Hmm. I think jwlee was unlucky more than anything, personally. I know his English is very good, but the fact that he wrote all his essays three hours before the deadline probably didn't help. Some early graduates from my school have been accepted to multiple Ivies.</p>
<p>Anyway, don't expect the adcoms to be lenient because you skipped a year. That's for sure.</p>
<p>I've taken community college classes instead of high school classes since the end of my eighth grade year because of the extremely poor academic strength of my public high school. I am a junior, however the high school has skipped me to senior rank as I am graduating this year with the right amount of credits. I was accepted to Dartmouth last week, so I think that more than when you're graduating, it's what you have done in the time before graduation. What I mean is, I don't think they don't care if you're graduating a year early if you are competitive with all the other applicants in SAT scores, classes you've had (I will have completed calculus by the time I graduate this year), etc. Obviously I couldn't say for sure, but that's the experience I have had.</p>
<p>Adcoms will not be impressed and see skipping a year of high school as any sort of "hook." They will look at your app like any one else's and assume you skipped because it was appropriate for you at the time. If they see signs of immaturity, they will consider that against you!</p>
<p>It is not necessarily a handicap, but it all depends on the situation, as with any other applicant.</p>
<p>I agree with somemom. If you gained something from skipping a year, rather than lost something, and are at the same maturity level as the other applicants, it shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>I think tiyusufaly hit the big question on the head ... did you skip a grade awhile ago or are you thinking of skipping a grade in HS? If you skipped a grade years ago it is long forgotten. If you skip a year of HS I doubt the colleges explicitly consider that as either a positive or negative ... however it does mean that students who attend a full 4 years of HS have more time to take APs, be involved in ECs, and can be older taking the SATs ... it seems it would be harder to gain entry if you skip a year of HS.</p>
<p>I skipped a grade (but not in high school) and I was accepted to Princeton ED. I have a friend who graduated from my school early and was accepted to Brown ED. It's not like being young puts you on some kind of blacklist. I think it really depends on the person and the situation, as somemom said. </p>
<p>As a generality, it is probably not a good idea to skip a grade in high school because you want to get the full high school experience. That being said, obviously, if you've exhausted all the resources your high school can offer you it makes sense to skip a grade or graduate early.</p>
<p>I don't think these schools will accept or reject anyone just because they graduated early/skipped a grade, there are so many other factors that go into each decision. Being a year ahead is somewhat impressive, because it means you are willing to challenge yourself academically, but it is also somewhat of a liability because you have to prove that you are mature and accomplished enough to handle yourself with students who are all older than you.</p>