Should I mention my age?

[dat_nerd]

Hi all,

I'm a really young college student. I started my degree program as a pre-teen and I'll be graduating at a high school age. As I'm starting to write my SOP, I've been debating whether I should or shouldn't mention this fact. Here's the pros/cons I've considered:

Pros:

1. Being a young student is different, and maybe this would appeal to a POI or make my SOP interesting.

2. The experience of being 10 years younger than my peers has really shaped me over these four years. I could even make this a major theme of my SOP. Being a young student is a major factor of who I am, and it feels like I'm misrepresenting myself if I ignore this point.

Cons:

1. I don't want professors to judge me on my age alone. In the past, disclosing my age has led to me being instantly judged, and sometimes it's a poor reaction.

2. I'm concerned that an admissions board might think of me as a liability or have some other bias against admitting a young student. I know this would be considered age-discrimiation, but I actually had this happen to me when concerns were raised about my age as an undergraduate.

3. I'd like to get into a grad school based on who I am and my qualifications, not my age. I've done quite well as an undergraduate without sharing my age with professors, and I don't see any reason to change this.

Previously, I had decided not to mention my age on my SOP for the reasons listed above. However, I recently made a visit to a competitive Ph.D program where the visit coordinator shared my age with the professors I planned to meet. Every professor I met asked me about how I started college so early, and two (both being POIs) told me to keep in touch. I'm not sure that I'd have had the same reaction if they didn't know my age.

Any thoughts or advice? I want to start working on my POI, and I'm not sure whether making my age a main point (or even mentioning it at all) would help or hurt my chances of admission. Thanks in advance!

[toby42]

I'm sure you're going to get much good advice on this - and better than what I'm about to say - but in reading this I was reminded of what one of my professors pointed out in my own endeavors. I have begun a few graduate-level projects on my own and for my own purposes and he said that this was one of my strongest points... it showed my ability to perform independent research and showed that I was already engaged in what they would expect of me later. So on your part, I think your age is a plus in that it shows that you are a hard-worker and are incredibly self-motivate - a must for graduate school. This may not settle the argument, but it definitely is one more think to mark in the 'Pro' category.

[Usmivka]

I think you should look at this and the several responses from last week. I'd say the consensus was that you should not mention your age. Please see the thread for the detailed arguments. Maybe even contact the OPer and have a chat, you two seem to have a lot in common.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Usmivka

[ZacharyObama]

I wouldn't do anything other than be yourself, if you think it's relevant any point in your Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose then don't be afraid to broach the topic. I agree with toby42 that if anything at this stage in the educational system it is probably a plus. Grad school is a whole different ballgame than undergrad. Without knowing your situation in regards to questions such as living situations, I would just be sure to present that you have a great support network in your life if you do choose to mention your age.

Aloha.

[dat_nerd]

Thanks guys for the advice. I submitted my applications yesterday, so I thought I'd give an update. I've talked with my advisor about this, and he recommended that I not mention my age.

For anyone else in a similar situation, I decided against mentioning my age because admission committees are looking for maturity, and you may just be giving them a reason to reject you. You can state in your SOP that you are a mature, young student all you want, but the adcomm probably won't believe you. If you really, really want them to know that you started college early, asking a recommender who knows you as a mature student to bring this up in their letter is a much better option.

Edited November 12, 2012 by dat_nerd

[cyberwulf]

Just FYI, most applications include date of birth, and adcom members will generally see this (though it may be buried on one line of a 20-page application document). So whether you mentioned it or not, faculty with a sharp eye will notice it.

Also, isn't CS full of young prodigies who accomplished a ton before typical grad school age? I can't imagine a discipline that would be more receptive to young applicants.

[dat_nerd]

CS is actually a common "back to school" major, so most of my classmates are 10+ years older than I.

I don't have a problem whatsoever with the adcomm knowing I'm a young student. Rather, my question was regarding whether I should discuss this in my SOP. I decided to discuss my age only in diversity essays, but otherwise avoid mentioning it in my application.