<p>Let's suppose that there are two people. Both of them have exactly the same ECs, very persuasive essays, and high SATs.</p>
<p>Person 1 is going to graduate HS at age 18 with a W GPA of 3.9.
Person 2 is going to graduate HS at age 17 with a W GPA of 3.6.</p>
<p>Which person do you think is going to get in, the younger one with a lower GPA, or the older one with a higher GPA?</p>
<p>Person 1. Colleges don't care whether you are 17 or 18, but they certainly care about your academic profile.</p>
<p>Listen to b@r!um. From his keyboard comes truth.</p>
<p>They speak the truth especially since its 17 and 18. Now if one person was graduating at like, idk, 13, it might be a different story. Than again at that age, they might be thought of as "immature"</p>
<p>Yeah, so tennesse and barium are right...</p>
<p>And of course maturity's relative, you could be an 18 year old and not be mature enough for college.</p>
<p>I'd say anything in the region of 15/16 upwards and you should be judged the same way anyone else would be. Child prodigies are a different story. :)</p>
<p>even if you had someone who was going to graduate at 19 with a 3.9 and another student who was going to graduate at 15 with a 3.6 -- with all else being equal, they are still going to accept the person with the 3.9. Being younger when you graduate will not give you any boost -- and if you skipped a grade to do it, it could actually hurt you since you would have had less time for ECs, activities and rigorous curriculum.</p>
<p>basically, it's not recommended to skip grades..
wow, some ppl in my school actually skipped 2nd semester of 8th grade and went right on to HS in January, onlying ending up with no ECs at the end of freshman year.. pretty depressing I think..</p>
<p>You don't get points for being young. You get points for being young AND being more brilliant than those several years your senior.</p>
<p>But something like 17 and 18 isn't significant enough to make a diff.</p>
<p>Yeah, the 17/18 thing was a bad example, because few places have birth cutoffs before September 1. Thus, many, many people with summer birthdays graduate "at 17", not having been accelerated in any way.
There are also many extenuating circumstances. For instance, I know several people who graduated from my school at 19. For most of them, this was because they spent a year abroad, but not at an IB school, and still wanted to get their IB diploma. Thus, they came back and did, utlimately, five years in High School--four at my HS and one away. Colleges certainly didn't have a problem with this. I also know people who graduated at 16, or a young 17. They did well in college admissions, but I believe this had much more to do with the fact that they were advanced in general, than their age giving them an edge.</p>
<p>This is an interesting question. I know a girl whose parents really pushed her to get her a year ahead in school. I am sure for some kids it's a great thing, but for this little one it was ridiculous. They even had her tutored in kindergarten! She was bright, but being the youngest in her class is really a disadvantage (for her, maybe not for everyone) now that she is in high school. Her mom considers it a badge of honor that she is young for the year, but all the colleges will see is her transcript.</p>
<p>i agree that 17/18 doesn't matter. what matter is the essay, and they will probably weigh in more of what the essay is portraying the candidate.</p>
<p>anybody else?</p>
<p>I skipped part of 8th grade. I was in 8th grade in the Fall and in 9th grade in the Spring. I took Wind Ensemble as an Extra Curricular, so people who skip grades are not at a big disadvantage. My mom put me a year late into Kindergarten, so it balanced out. I'll be graduating when I'm 17.</p>
<p>I'll be graduating 2008, so I'll be applying this year for colleges. Personally, I believe that skipping a grade may put you at a disadvantage for the ivy leagues(b/c of lower SAT or ACT scores), but it won't hurt your chances at colleges, such as the UCs. Colleges would look at 17 and 18 year olds equally.</p>
<p>I'll be graduated at 17 also since I started 1st grade a year early (Sept 8 bday).</p>
<p>It doesn't matter at all between a 17 y/o and an 18 y/o.</p>