@preppedparent , where does JHU say this? Curious on behalf of a friend with a similar situation. Not interested in cty, but in attending college early. …
@marvin100 I got the point, I’m just exploring the topic.
@lookingforward Various events lead to my participation in the research. Of course the degree of input varied year by year. Plus my ECs show that I didn’t stick around at home, instead did everything a typical college bound HS student does.
I appreciate the participation and points made by everyone on the post, Thankyou!
It would really help me if I could receive your input on my options.
One option could be to apply to a top boarding school such as Phillips Andover - the last two years offer classes tha, in effect, are college-level. Most of your peers would be gifted and the classes simulating.
Another option is to email every LAC ranked in the top 50 and every private university in the top 40 to ask whether they admit 15 year olds who’d need to live on campus. A few will be okay with it and you can concentrate your efforts to those.
Not all top 50. OP seems to need substantial fin aid. Run NPCs first.
And OP make sure you understand what the colleges really look for. Including the pattern of activities students usually acquire over a longer period. And how they show this maturity and judgment we note, among other attributes.
One point we’re making is that this is more than what you want. Those generous colleges will need to want you.
OP and NPC’s? Please elaborate, I’m new to cc.
OP = original poster – which is you, in this case
NPC = Net price calculator – a cost estimating tool on every college’s website
Original post, original poster
NPC = net price calculator
required on every college website. you have to check that you’re an American citizen in order to have an idea of costs - as an international, you’d be charged more and wouldn’t have access to any loans. But it gives you an idea whether a college would be affordable.
Thats sounds perfect!
It really comes down to how well I express and portray myself to the admissions and knowing where to apply.
Great suggestion in #22 by @MYOS1634 especially if finances are not an issue. My D had a kid from Russia in her Pomona sponsor group who did exactly that, went to an elite American boarding school rather than entering college at 15.
“Show, not just tell.” And to do this well, you need to know what they look for, how you match. It’s much more than stats.
@muu2000, only a small number of US colleges (maybe 5 now?) are need blind and meet need for international students. The competition for those slots is unbelievable.
Regarding comments above about JHU, one of my kids had pretty extensive involvement with some of their gifted programs (not just CTY, but also invitation only opportunities for kids with very high test scores). Also with the Davidson Institute in Reno. (Which, by the way, is starting an online gifted HS this year to supplement the one they have run in Reno for years). Even most of those kids are not ready for the very top colleges at age 15. If the OP could afford to pay, there would be more options at lower ranked colleges.
Many of the comments here are from the pov of the younger person or the college. Don’t forget the pov of the soon to be peer group: the other 18/19 yo first years.
It is very normal for kids who have just left one stage to want to put some distance between then and now (same thing happens between primary/middle and middle/high). They reflexively look to the older students, not the younger ones.
There was a 15 yo in one of our collegekid’s college cohorts, and a 14 yo in another. Both collegekids felt sorry for them, because they saw their social isolation. There was no meanness involved, and people were friendly- but it’s not who they wanted to hang out with outside of class. New college students are busy adjusting to their new ‘adult’ status, and 15 is a different stage of life.
There are situations where it is appropriate and can work – but those are truly the prodigy type situation.
@gardenstategal JHU has a long history of admitting gifted students early. My friend went off to JHU when she was 14 and graduated as a psychology major.
^ But is this the practice now? And how many kids, ordinary kids who just took all their hs classes or kids who show a prism of worth?
Yes, there are plenty of schools that take qualified younger students from time to time. At none of them, though, is it a hook.
@muu2000 When you say you have taken the most rigorous courses possible, what does that mean exactly? Have you taken APs? College level courses?
One thing to keep in mind is that advanced kids here might have been taking college level classes earlier than 15 and graduating from high school at 15 with classes like multivariable cal, difEQ, linear alg, and real analysis. When they approach top colleges and say they have run out of options, they may have been functioning above their peers and on a college level since middle school.
And even then, age will be an issue, not a hook. It will need to be addressed.
At lower tier colleges, it will be probably less of an issue.