20 as a Freshmen

[Anonymous]

My kid turned 20 a few weeks into his freshman year. He's a fall birthday so on the older side of the grade anyway (not redshirted, birthday just fell after MCPS cutoff) and then took a gap year so that is how it worked out. NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it weird to be a freshmen at 20?

That's what you get for redshirting and/or gapping.

[Anonymous]

If you are talking about someone who graduated high school and went straight to college, then yes.

If you are talking about many of the examples in this thread, where people did military service or a gap year to work or volunteer, then no.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the college. Ivy leagues it's almost weird to be 18 and not under 18 lol!

State schools and less competitive schools, not weird at all.

[Anonymous]

Mormon men complete two years of missionary service, so they are often older. Not all go to BYU! International students tend to be older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the college. Ivy leagues it's almost weird to be 18 and not under 18 lol!

State schools and less competitive schools, not weird at all.

Per Harvard Common Data set, average age of first-time, first-year freshman is 19.
https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2019-2020.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it weird to be a freshmen at 20?

That's what you get for redshirting and/or gapping.

There you are! I was wondering how long it would take for the "redshirt" obsessed mom to chime in. Run your own race, lady.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It's absolutely fine. Some kids go into the military first and then go to college. i've actually seen this be beneficial to those who waited and matured more. They get better grades, they stay out of trouble, and they really gain a lot out of their education. --A professor

These are in fact some of the benefits from gap years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's absolutely fine. Some kids go into the military first and then go to college. i've actually seen this be beneficial to those who waited and matured more. They get better grades, they stay out of trouble, and they really gain a lot out of their education. --A professor

These are in fact some of the benefits from gap years.

+1
My 22 yr. old son recently told me he wished he had gone into the military first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it weird to be a freshmen at 20?

That's what you get for redshirting and/or gapping.

Do you really have a problem with a gap year? That gives zero academic advantage. I'd love for my somewhat entitled kid to do it to get a taste of the real world sooner rather than later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the college. Ivy leagues it's almost weird to be 18 and not under 18 lol!

State schools and less competitive schools, not weird at all.

I thought Ivy League schools actually encourage gap years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the college. Ivy leagues it's almost weird to be 18 and not under 18 lol!

State schools and less competitive schools, not weird at all.

I thought Ivy League schools actually encourage gap years.

A link above was provided to show the Ivy poster is ignorant

[Anonymous]

It's called redshirting your kindergartener. It catches up to you on the back end when you high school senior is 19 or 20. Get ready for a lot more of it soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's called redshirting your kindergartener. It catches up to you on the back end when you high school senior is 19 or 20. Get ready for a lot more of it soon.

It's about time, sounds like being more mature has a lot of benefits.

[Anonymous]

My nephew was a 20yo freshman last year, after taking a year off, and it's been great for him. He was ready to be independent at a big-city university and he's been very mature about finding his way through the curriculum and focusing his interests as he starts sophomore year, in a way he definitely wasn't a couple of years ago.

As a longtime professor, I can also say I love teaching slightly older students. A year or two makes a big difference in maturity at this stage of life.

And I suspect 20yo frosh will be even less rare than they had been, after the disruptions of covid.