<p>I have posted something similar to this in a different section of this site but it was recommended to me to repost it here. </p>
<p>I had a very complex and confusing middle/high school story. Firstly, I took pre-k as well as K which made me already older then average. Also, due to extreme anxiety issues in 7th grade I left public school and shut down completely for the rest of the school year, doing essentially nothing. I was held back due to that. My anxiety continued to effect me and slow me down for years until about 6 months ago when I fixed all of my issues and am extremely motivated. Due to being held back and taking Pre-K I will be 20 years old when I enter as a freshman in college in a little over a year. Will colleges hold this against me in the admission process or will it not matter?</p>
<p>I am a highschool student, I have a 2100 SAT, all A's in a tutors homeschooling program (she does not give out GPA unfortunately), and am taking some dual enrollment classes at a local community college. I have a 3.75 gpa in spanish 1 and 2 at that community college and plan on taking 1 or 2 more classes soon. Those stats plus 3-5 average-above average SAT subject tests but the bare minimum number of high school credits (around 22-23) should get me into how good/what kind of a school (meaning example of schools I could likely get into)?</p>
<p>I have nothing/no one to compare my situation too so I am essentially clueless as to what my options are. Any and all opinions are welcomed. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Are you limited to a certain geographic area? What can you afford to pay? What fields are you interested in? What types of schools appeal to you (big, small, urban, rural, etc.)? We need more detail to be able to give you guidance.</p>
<p>BTW, major congratulations to you in getting a handle on your anxiety issues - I am sure that was not easy.</p>
<p>Where are you looking to go to college? Are there are any states or cities you are interested in? Public or private? Will you need financial aid and/or are you looking for merit aid? What are you interested in studying? </p>
<p>At first glance, I wonder if perhaps attending your community college for the first two years might be good choice as it will give you a clear and concise record for four year colleges to look at.</p>
<p>Your pre-high school situation doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>How much can your family pay?</p>
<p>What is your likely major?</p>
<p>If you will need money for college, I don’t think going the CC route first is best since the best aid and scholarships from universities go to incoming frosh only. That can be a shock for the good student who goes to a CC first, and then tries to transfer and can’t get aid/merit to afford to go. </p>
<p>What is your SAT breakdown? If it’s high enough, you probably could get a good scholarship as an incoming frosh.</p>
<p>In what environment do you work best? The anxiety problems and recent tutoring/home schooling indicate that a supportive environment would be helpful for you. I’d encourage you to look at LAC’s rather than large schools; you would get more personal attention. Also, it sounds like you are a guy; if so, they often get a boost in admissions at the smaller schools.</p>
<p>Trying to avoid the 2 years at CC then transfer route, hated CC very much</p>
<p>SAT breakdown:</p>
<p>700 Writing
720 Reading comp
680 Math</p>
<p>I can afford to go anywhere</p>
<p>Geographically I am in Virginia. I want to go out of state and would prefer not to be in a big city.</p>
<p>Chem Engineering or Finance Major</p>
<p>Also I’d much rather go to a big school then a small school. Motivation is huge for me and I personally am much more motivated in going to a bigger school that I know than a LAC.</p>
<p>I was thinking of schools like Purdue, Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado but I have no clue what I should theoretically be able to get in to.</p>
<p>Search for the Common Data Sets for the schools that interest you (you can find these online, just takes some googling). That will give you an idea of what the average profile of admitted students for that school looks like. You may also want to consult some of the big college guides like Fiske, just to get a general overview of various schools. You dont need to buy the guide, you can usually just go to Barnes and Noble and peruse it there. </p>
<p>My only caution for you is that if anxiety has been an issue in the past, think about what kinds of support structures you have at home that allow you to overcome that, and if/how you would be able to replicate those structures at your new school.</p>
<p>I’ve looked up the average profile at the colleges I am interested in and my SAT scores seem to be a bit above the norm there but due to the rest of my record being subpar (at most 3 dual enrollment classes, bare minimum of required courses to graduate, assuming 3-5 average-above avg sat subject tests) I am assuming that I need to look at schools like that. Would that be correct, and is a school like Purdue a reasonable goal or are my sights too low/high?</p>
<p>I’ve thought very hard about the anxiety issues and how they should effect the colleges I should be aiming for. Taking the classes at the CC and doing all studying/work independently reassured me that I could handle a college environment. A big OOS University is many steps above community college close to home, but I am committed to doing it.</p>
<p>We visited Purdue and really liked their approach to the first-year engineering program. Their engineering facilities are first rate. They offered our son (OOS with similar SAT only stronger in math) $10,000 a year.</p>
<p>However, West Lafayette (the town) was not appealing to him so he chose another school. It may appeal to you if you don’t like big cities. And the campus is very spread out. He didn’t like the idea of possibly taking a bus from his dorm to class.</p>
<p>Of the other schools on your list, Louisville doesn’t seem to fit because it is very urban. Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina have a very southern feel that you might enjoy as a Virginian or what to avoid. Colorado is very different, laid back, not as rah-rah as the others on your list.</p>
<p>Check each school’s website for information on admission for home-schooled students. That might be helpful. </p>
<p>Hope that helps. Congratulations on overcoming difficulties in your life. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Some of the bigger schools, especially publics, can be a little rigid about required courses for admission. I would talk to admissions now to see what you might need to do.</p>
<p>Have you considered getting your GED? Did you know that if you finish 10 courses at CC, you can automatically get a high school diploma? Also there are some legit ways to get a diploma from distance programs (online or correspondence), often by putting together everything you have done, formally or informally and figuring out the credits (costs about $500). These things could make applying to a bigger school, and/or a state school, a little easier.</p>
<p>There are schools that absolutely welcome students with quirky histories, and also are quite supportive, or have classes with a lot of discussion and personal contact. examples include Marlboro or Bennington in VT, Sarah Lawrence in NY, Hampshire in MA. I have heard good things about Lewis and Clark in OR and, actually, there are quite a few others in this category.</p>
<p>Try looking at “Colleges that Change Lives” or “Cool Colleges” for more ideas.</p>
<p>If you prefer bigger places, then I would check into admissions prerequisites just to make sure. You may be fine now, you may be fine but need to get a piece of paper, or you may not be fine and need to so something in the next year to legitimize your applicaiton.</p>
<p>Colleges vary but overall, all colleges are much more accepting of different paths and you should be fine, so good luck!</p>
<p>Your SAT scores will be fine for all the SEC schools, and would probably put you in the top 25% at Georgia. Not sure how UGA would treat your GPA but I’d recommend looking at [this</a> blog published by the UGA admissions office](<a href=“http://ugaadmissions.blogspot.com%5Dthis”>http://ugaadmissions.blogspot.com). If you dig around, I bet you’d be able to find some information on entrance requirements for homeschooled students.</p>
<p>Are you looking for any particular type of “atmosphere”? Seems like a pretty wide gap between schools like USC/UGA/UK and Purdue/UCB in terms of environment. In any case, good luck in the admissions process!</p>
<p>Agree with the opinions expressed above. However, as to your original question about age, how would we parents know? Even if we were on various ad comms who would ever admit (in a public forum) to age discrimination? So, your task is still to gather information as outlined above and develop a list of 3 types of schools. Easy, Reach, and Qualified. Visit as many as you can either before or after acceptance.</p>
<p>I have wondered about getting my GED and think based on research that I’ll need it or an equivalent. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice in different colleges.</p>
<p>Would it be possible for me to be admitted as a high school senior for the Spring Semester of 2013 instead of Fall of 2012? Or would that be a lot harder to get in through or impossible due to some reason unknown to me.</p>
<p>What do you mean by level? If you mean ranking, D. did not consider ranking at all when she was applying. We did not even think to check it. She had her own criteria for choosing schools (as I imagine you do also). She visited schools on her list, applied and selected her school based on her own preferences. You did not mention any list of schools? We do not know what are your preferences, what criteria you are using in selecting your UG? Everybody is very different, what is important for one is not important for another.</p>
<p>*Would it be possible for me to be admitted as a high school senior for the Spring Semester of 2013 instead of Fall of 2012? Or would that be a lot harder to get in through or impossible due to some reason unknown to me. *</p>
<p>i don’t recommend that for several reasons…</p>
<p>1) Schools often have a lot of Welcoming activities for incoming fall frosh to help kids make new friends and settle in. Coming in the spring might mean having a harder adjustment period and finding it harder to make friends.</p>
<p>2) Many schools have Frosh Engineering Programs that are sequenced…starting fall. I think starting in the odd semester would mean always being “off” everyone else’s sequence.</p>