Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Otter592 t1_j7lev5a wrote

Poor kid... It's impressive of course, but surely they could have found ways to nurture his intelligence while still giving him a normal childhood and college experience. What's he going to do when he graduates college? Get a real job at 13?

35

OreoMoo t1_j7lverw wrote

My college accepted a student last year who was 14 or 15 years old.

I don't know if they live on campus (or what the legality of that would even be). They're incredibly ambitious and intelligent but I honestly feel a bit bad for them. While they aren't as extreme an age gap as this kid; there's still a yawning chasm in life experience between a 15/16 year old and a 22 year old in contemporary American society.

12

[deleted] t1_j7n5fke wrote

I also had a 14 year old in one of my classed in college and always thought it was unfair. This kid was not once hungover and trying to keep it together during that Friday 8am.

5

[deleted] t1_j7n5tq7 wrote

I think it's kind of similar to kids who are home schooled or who attend tbose really small private schools. It all depends on how the parents handle it.

2

Otter592 t1_j7n7j63 wrote

But no matter what the parents do, he'll still be a young child in college and never experience it in the way that other college students do. College is such an important time to grow, make mistakes, and figure things out. He'll never get that.

3

[deleted] t1_j7n9con wrote

Oh, definitely, I was referring more to the elementary/high school experience.

I don't disagree that college is a great experience, but not everyone has that experience. I had friends who were military/traveled/worked and went to college at an older age, sometimes with families. I have other friends who never even went to college. They never got those experiences but made mistakes and grew in other ways.

2