I was wondering whether being…let’s say… two years younger than the rest of your class would help you in applying to the top Ivy League schools like Princeton, MIT, and Harvard.
<p>Probably not. Adcoms might be concerned that a young student would be immature or not fit in.</p>
<p>yeah i've heard of cases where people get put on the 'z list' theyre accepted, but the college defers them a year before starting for various reasons, one of them being to give them time to mature.</p>
<p>I considered graduating a year early which would make me two years younger but I thought it would be wierd that I wouldn't even be allowed in an R rated movie when I was in college... to many social problems.</p>
<p>... also, colleges tend to frown upon it because alot of the time it is this type of kid who is not able to handle college.(not because of the academics but because of the social pressures(think drinking, sex, drugs, etc))</p>
<p>linh it doesn't matter i am 6 years younger than my class size and asking all the adcoms, they could care less, you're a freshmen no matter what. the only exception maybe if you are like 5 years old ;)</p>
<p>It will hurt you because schools will worry about your ability to handle college, academics are not at all the only concern. Also, you are less likely to have built the strong record of leadership positions, sports and EC participation, etc. needed for top schools if you are even 1 year younger. We skipped this option for my daughter after consulting college counselors.</p>
<p>But if I had a lot of leadership positions and ECs, would it still hurt me?</p>
<p>i'm graduating a year early and i'm already young for my class, so i'm about 1.5yrs younger than most of the class of '05. this hasn't hurt me, because my stats have been good for the places i've applied, but i didn't apply to extremely competitive places. I was told my umich and cornell that age was somewhat of an issue. There are questions of immaturity and adjusting to college life. usually they're ok as long as you've had 4 years of high school. but if you skip a year, or even two, of high school, then they might be concerned. but if you skipped two grades in elementary or middle school, they won't care as much. plus you'll be held to the same standards as those who graduated on time, so if your transcript is lacking at all, that can be held against you, at least that's what college admissions counselors told me. EC's and cc can also be greatly improved with all 4 years of hs, because you can have more leadership experience, more research, more everything basically.</p>
<p>If you're certain your resume compares favorably to 17/18 year old ivy league applicants and you have teachers who will say you are as mature and ready as those 2 years older, that I'd think you have a shot. Why do you want to hurry? Have you thought how this will effect your ability to have a normal social life, especially where dating is concerned (especially if you're male)? Young people are often in a hurry. By the time you're 40, you'll wish you had taken the time to savor those years with just the responsibility of school. Perhaps your age advantage will be better used for a second graduate degree, a gap year, an internship.....</p>