I am skipping my junior year of high school and will graduate when I’m only 16. Does this work in my favor or against me in terms of getting into a really good college (Cornell, Brown)? I have tons of extracurriculars, hundreds of hours of community service and internships, a 4.0 unweighted GPA, a 4.9 weighted GPA, Jewish and Middle Eastern (I don’t know if that counts as a minority), living with a single mother (dad’s not in the picture), and I’ll have a few great letters of recommendation from my rabbi (who’s semi-famous) and teachers.
The top grad at my daughter’s school was 16 when she graduated. She was a National Merit Scholar with great scores, grades, and activities. She was admitted to Brown, but no other Ivies. She ended up at William and Mary and received some money there. I saw her in a couple of situations where she came across as much less mature than the other kids who were speaking. I think she has leveled a bit in college.
Knowing some of her credentials, she was certainly academically qualified for any school in the country. I think her interviewing skills probably hurt her.
When you are very young, it can be difficult to not act your age! My best wishes as you work though the process.
Age does not seem to be either a hindrance or a boost as far as admissions go. I had 2 friends finish at 16 and one enrolled at usc (parents held her from cornell) and the other went to apu (parents held her from oxford). As a minor, you’ll have some of those extra considerations, but you’ll be fine
My friend went to college at 16. Honestly, its only a one or two year age difference. Maturity wise, you’re not that dissimilar from an 18 year old. Especially if you associate with many 18 year olds. The only thing I think you’d have a problem with is that you might need your parents’ permission to do certain things since you’re a minor. And in college, that can get pretty irritating.
Really? Permissions?
Once you are 18, you can (and need to) sign most college-related paperwork yourself. If you are under 18, your parents sign for you. It is a liability issue for the college, they need to handle it that way. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Agree that maturity in the interview process can be a challenge, and also ECs can be light due to one year less to achieve leadership positions, high finishes in competitions, etc. Doubt the college admissions office will know who your rabbi is, so it will be just another recommendation letter to them.
One thing you need to consider that has nothing to do with your age is what “dad is not in the picture” really means. The kinds of schools you are considering expect financial information from BOTH parents and take it into account when determining what you can pay (and if parents have remarried, most of them also take the new spouse’s finances into account as well). If you have had NO contact for many years (don’t even know where he is), you MAY be able to get a waiver from each college so you don’t need to have him provide information.
Some colleges do mandate a formal minimum age for applicants, and some enforce an informal minimum age that you won’t see officially documented anywhere. Hence, you will want to contact admissions offices directly to ensure that you don’t make an application that will be summarily rejected. While 16 is above the eligibility minimum for some colleges that practice this policy, there are others that mandate a minimum age of 17 or even 18 in some rare cases.
Whether a college has a specific minimum age policy or not, the primary question any admissions officer has to be able to answer affirmatively is “Will this applicant be able to participate and thrive in a community of older peers?” You will need to make certain the answer to that question is an unequivocal “Yes”. Anything you can offer in your application that demonstrates emotional and intellectual maturity, or documents prior collaboration with older peers (e.g. taking classes or doing service work with college undergraduates) will help in supporting that answer.
Also, it’s not just the admissions officer’s answer to that question that you need to consider. Think long and hard about your own answer. I went to college two years early, but I did so in a cohort of more than 200 other students also entering early. While I got on very well with the older students on campus, and made some of my dearest friends among them, it helped immensely to have that community of peers who were sharing the experience I was having. If you think that would be of value to you as well, then you may want to give priority to schools that emphasize early admissions as an explicit part of their mission. (e.g. USC, UW, BostonU, Guilford, Bard, UIowa, to name a few; look up Early Entrance To College on Wikipedia for a more extensive list)
Your stats and ECs look very good, especially considering your age, so I have no doubt that you can be a competitive candidate for Cornell or Brown. Just take some time to consider whether you prefer to be one of the only younger students on campus, or whether you might prefer to spend your first two years, or even all four, at a school where you’ll have a cohort of similar age. Even if you don’t apply to the formal early college programs at those schools that have them (and in some cases, having graduated HS you will actually be ineligible), you’ll still have the benefit of a campus community that a) includes others of your own age and b) includes older students who will be more accustomed to the presence of younger collegians in their classrooms.