At what age did you start college?

[ranger]

I'm just curious as to the average age a person starts college coming straight
out of high school.

I started when I was 16.

 

[d_leet]

I'm just curious as to the average age a person starts college coming straight
out of high school.
I started when I was 16.

Well I'm still a high school student, but I started taking some college classes about this time last year when I was 16.

 

[Sir_Deenicus]

I'll just get this out of the way now: 11.6 (although I could have by 5 but apparently I wasnt mature enough. Pheh)

 

[dicerandom]

I was 21 :-\

 

[Gale]

the average person is probably 17-19. Pf isn't exactly a random sampling. I started part time at FPC at 16, full time at Umass just after my 17th bday.

 

[franznietzsche]

I was 17 when I started.

 

[scorpa]

I was 17 for a month into university.

 

[mattmns]

I was 17 as well.

 

[Moonbear]

The typical student starting college in the US is 17 or 18, depending on when during the year their birthday falls. You can get the occassional student who was accelerated through high school and starts at 15 or 16 (I assume you mean actually matriculated as a college student, not those wiz-kids who start taking college classes at 13, but are still technically in secondary school half the day), and of course there are people who take time off after high school that can start college at any age, or who have been held back for some reason in school, so are a bit older at high school graduation (it doesn't always mean someone was flunked out...I've known of people who were seriously ill at some time during their secondary school years, so had to re-do a year of school because they missed too much).

 

[Evo]

Also, isn't "college" in Europe the equivalent of high school grades 11 & 12 in the US?

 

[Cyrus]

I prefer older students in my classes. They are more focused on studying, and they don't complain about having to do work. Plus most of them work and are not spoiled brats. I amazed at how lazy students are. They want to do the least amount of work possible to get a passing grade. They are all going to be horrible engineers, if they ever pass their Fundamentals test, which I doubt.

 

[franznietzsche]

Also, isn't "college" in Europe the equivalent of high school grades 11 & 12 in the US?

Yeah, might be good to specify University.

 

[samoth1]

I was 21 :-\

Same here. No regrets at all.

 

[LENIN]

I'm not shure about othere parts of Europe but where I come frome it's not posible to finish higschool before the age of 18 and most poeple finish it at 19.

 

[matthyaouw]

Also, isn't "college" in Europe the equivalent of high school grades 11 & 12 in the US?

Is there a difference between college and university in the US?

 

[ashmanovski]

College/university (if they are the same thing educational-wise, as I have understood) is what you attend AFTER high school in Europe.
You go to elementary school from age 7, for 9 years.
Then you attend high-school for 3 years, and after that you can apply to college/university.

That's how it works in Sweden anyway

 

[VikingF]

I started in college when I was 18, which is when Norwegians graduate from High School (videregaende skole).


In Norway:
Elementary school (Grunnskole): 6-16
High school (Videregående skole): 16-18
College/university (Høgskole/universitet): 18 ->

 

[FredGarvin]

I was 23 when I started.

 

[ranger]

When people ask me at age I started, and I tell them 16, they think my some academically gifted person (which btw I'm not). I didnt start high school in the US, when I came over here, they evaluated my credits and put me in the appropriate grade. When they did that they actually put me back a grade. Technically I was supposed to finish a 15.

 

[gravenewworld]

I don't know why you would ever want to start college @ 16. The most fun , hands down, of your life is turning 21 while in college.

 

[ranger]

I don't know why you would ever want to start college @ 16. The most fun , hands down, of your life is turning 21 while in college.

At the time I was thinking it would be better to start early and get it over with as soon as possible. I remember most of my (college) friends were like twice my size. I was also very immature. I left high school tool early- didnt get a chance to have fun, I will be leaving college too early - won't get a chance to have fun But oh well, I guess it doesn't matter to me...

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know why you would ever want to start college @ 16. The most fun , hands down, of your life is turning 21 while in college.

I had a friend in HS who was very academically gifted. He could have easily graduated high school at least 3 years early. Fortunately, his parents had the wisdom to just have him take some college classes in math and physics, but to stay in high school for the other stuff so he graduated at the typical age and officially started college with his same-age peers. There is no way a 14-year-old, even a very gifted one, has the maturity to hang out with college students. He had difficulties with being social in the first place, so having him just be a nuisance kid among adults would have only made it worse.

Those years between 17 and 21 involve a lot of maturing, whether you're in college or out in the working world, and sending someone out into that environment while they are still just a young adolescent can be very emotionally stunting.

 

[fasterthanjoao]

i'm in UK. after 6 years of high school, I started University at 17. second year now, three to go.

 

[Azael]

18. we don't finish high school until 18 here in sweden. Not taking a year off was a huge misstake for me though and I had to take one year off after my first year.

 

[daveb]

Damn, I feel old. I started part time at 35 when I finally had the money and finished at 41. I'll (hopefully) be starting grad school this fall after a 2 year hiatus (and working).

 

[Anttech]

Also, isn't "college" in Europe the equivalent of high school grades 11 & 12 in the US?

Not in the UK.. College is typically below university, some people sit there A-levels/Highers at College, which people do around 16-18

 

[Azael]

in sweden we have elementary school for 9 years. A thing we call gymnasie(this is the closest to american high school I guess)for 3 years and afterwards university if you want to.

I don't know what the difference is betwen college and university in the states. But we have högskola(this can be translated into high-school but isn't the same as american high school) and university and they are the same except högskola doesn't have doctorate educations.

 

[Galileo]

In the netherlands college is the same as university. After high school most are 18, which is the age most start college.

I was 20.

 

[Cosmo16]

Is there a difference between college and university in the US?

Nope, all the same to us.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Damn, I feel old. I started part time at 35 when I finally had the money and finished at 41. I'll (hopefully) be starting grad school this fall after a 2 year hiatus (and working).

Thank you for your post, DaveB. I think I'm on the same schedule as you are.

 

[gravenewworld]

Technically I thought the difference between a college and a university in the US is that colleges only offer bachelors while universities offer masters (or more). i think some schools though haven't changed the their names, like boston college ( i guess because boston university was already taken), even though they offer advanced degrees.

 

[Astronuc]

Those years between 17 and 21 involve a lot of maturing, whether you're in college or out in the working world, and sending someone out into that environment while they are still just a young adolescent can be very emotionally stunting.

Hopefully that is the case, but I see a lot of people who don't seem to have matured even into their late 20's or 30's. By that, I mean taking responsibility for one's actions and accepting the consequences for poor decisions, particularly without excuses.