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<p>I think many colleges expect younger applicants to be above the average for their institution and not just at the median or below. I know a gal whose SAT scores at age 11 were well above the 25th percentile for our son’s alma mater, but were not above the 50th percentile, and she was told to take the SAT again and try again in a few years, which she did (and she was accepted to start PT at age 13). I also know a 10-year-old whose SAT score was pretty high for a 10-year-old, but not above the 50th percentile for the college and he was told he could audit one class (only paying as if taking it for credit, though, not for free) while studying for the SAT to get a higher score. He was one of the top students in his geography class at age 10, I heard from another student, but the U still wouldn’t admit him as a regular (or even a special student able to take classes for credit) till his SAT score was higher, so he started as a regular student at age 12 or 13. Ideally, they seem to prefer young students who enter with SAT scores high enough to get scholarship money rather than merely be admitted. And like all other students, they have to apply to the Honors College separately (the HC at our son’s alma mater had an average SAT score in the 1400’s when he was there and I suspect still does, so it’s not as difficult to get into as say Harvard or Caltech or Princeton or MIT or such, but is still tougher than getting into a good number of top tier colleges I suspect as some have 75th percentiles of under 1400 or even 1300 on the old 1600 possible SAT).</p>