10-year-old college sophomore credits ‘willpower’

[xiggi]

Jym, I do not remember having seen the dad in the on-air show.

[galoisien]

I feel bad though, because these kids, despite their rarity in the population, often feel like a dime a dozen -- the kind of savant to be gawked at circuses. How many "I entered college at age 9" people do you know of who changed the world? Furthermore, does he know hardship?

Now, I am very sympathetic to precocious kids and I think (using the principles of the dismal science) they should exploit their opportunities to the fullest for the maximum growth possible. Intellectual growth is often exponential and losing two years early in the development of those kids can mean losing twenty years of achievement for some of us. But of course it does not seem to mean anything if the interest is not passionate .

What do you want to do ... study.

But throughout all his study, he gives no mature insight on say the world's intelligence (other than "everyone is smart in their own way" WHICH I agree with but tells too little to be insightful). There is no sentiment of "I want to grow up to teach others," no pained preponderance of the world's differences [why they exist and what to do about them, which must be especially salient for precocious individuals], no aspirations to improve the world.

Now I don't think putting the kid in a normal school will optimal for him -- he needs to be *talking* with thinkers ...

[csleslie51]

One never knows where really smart people end up:
"Ski Genius Has A Surfer/Snowboarder Who Lives In A Van Rewritten Physics? Maybe." from
Ski Genius: Garrett Lisi | Outside Online

[galoisien]

That's my kinda guy ....

I'm sure that he didn't study all day.

[LazyBum201]

I always find the question, "So the person gets X degree at Y age - then what?" interesting. It would be, "Then whatever the person wants to do, just as if the person got the degree at Z age."

My son got his master of science degree from MIT today at age 16. He is going on for a Ph.D. and hopes to have it at age 18, but more realistically will have it at 19 or 20 (his Grad Rat can have a new graduation date engraved for the cost of shipping, and the Ph.D. changed to S.M. should he decide to do something other than finish the Ph.D. also just for the price of shipping, so he could stick whatever year he wanted on his ring without it truly committing him to accomplish anything). He is considering applying for a M.B.A. and/or J.D. program after finishing at MIT (has been considering this since undergraduate school as it could be helpful in running a tech company, which has been his stated goal since age 2) and certainly could have applied to a J.D. program even if he graduated with his Ph.D. at 17 (at least two people have started J.D. programs by 17, including at Harvard Law School, so not just at schools that aren't top 14).

He got his two B.S. degrees at age 13 and was able to start consulting right out of college, earning $200+/hour on some projects, so it's not like one can't start work right out of college either (he only needed a special exception granted by the labor and industry commissioner to be a paid EE before age 14, and he got that before he even finished college as he was an intern while in college). People often say they feel sorry for early-to-college kids. If the kid is the one who has wanted to early schooling (and not merely a parent pushing the kid), I'd say keep your pity/sorrow/compassion for the kids with cancer and the like, not those getting what they want.

[LazyBum201]

I can't speak to the social life of the child in the article, but can again note that the notion that all young kids in college have no social life is a myth. Our son had plenty of friends in college, both undergraduates and kids his own age, and was in activities with both undergraduates (crew, SGA, philosophy club, etc.) and kids his age (handchime choir, magic club, etc.) while in college. He started graduate school at age 14 (moved out of state to live in graduate housing on his own) and has made a bunch of friends his age (even was able to invite them to his weekly lab group meetings and has one of them being told by his faculty advisor that he will be his next graduate student) as well as attending undergrad dorm parties, frat parties, and grad dorm parties (about two weeks after he moved to graduate school, he attended parties at all three in a single day)...and also parties at grad student apartments off campus, living community parties, and parties at the homes of faculty. Tomorrow, he goes to a BBQ/beach party at his housemasters' home with other grad students, and Tuesday night, he was at a dinner party at a faculty member's house. His "big social problems" involve things like whether to attend a teen formal or the Grad Gala when they fall on the same night (he did the teen dance last year and the Grad Gala with a 19-year-old MIT freshman this year) and how to get to the 3D conferencing equipment to remotely take part in a conference in Italy when he has to be on live at 10 AM when he has a slumber party with teens to attend the night prior (a CEO had a limo come pick him up from the host's house at 9 AM). Trust me, these are the sorts of "problems" most teens would be fortunate to have.

[LazyBum201]

I wonder how many early-to-college kids spend a lot of time studying versus how many spend far less time than average. For our son, he spent far less time than average. He didn't take notes in classes, sometimes never read the textbooks (especially in CS classes; he's learned over 70 computer languages and started picking them up at age 5 via self-study, so he knew a lot of CS material before taking classes on the topics), and didn't believe in studying for exams (he considered it bad feedback for what one truly "knows" as studying can mean the exam will be testing more what is in short-term memory rather than long-term memory), and he was able to take fairly heavy loads (the highest load he registered for was 25 credits, not the 35 or 60 some Cornell students took in one semester, though) and still do well. He is intelligent enough that he can coast through rather easily, which is a blessing and a curse as he hasn't learned to "work hard" day after day like many who aren't from middle-class families do, but rather just goes in bursts as he feels inspired and then chills and does fun stuff that isn't work related at other times. My guess is many smart people don't have to study (or put as much time into writing papers or computer programs or whatever) nearly as hard or as much as general students to still get results that are considered more "awesome" than plenty who work hard, but the people who will go the farthest are those who both work hard *and* have a certain something naturally, so the most fortunate are those who both love to work hard daily (or at least M-F or such) and have talent.

[LazyBum201]

I think it will depend on the given individual what will be the best social environment. For our son, I absolutely think being in college early was good for him socially as he mingles well with all people and having exposure to a broad mix of people has been enjoyable for him, just as having an eclectic mix of international foods in one's diet is enjoyable for many people while another guy I know likes to eat soy burgers for dinner every night of the week. To each their own.

[galoisien]

I'm waiting for a cross-cultural prodigy (e.g. a prodigy that actually has lived substantial portions of childhoods across several cultures).

[LazyBum201]

Someone asked how many people who entered college at age 9 changed the world. First, can anyone tell me how many people who entered college at age 18 have changed the world, in whatever terms that phrase is meant to imply? Let's say it's eminence. My high school started graduating classes of 500-700 students per year in the 60's. Let's call is 500 a year for 50 years, so 25,000 graduates to date at a minimum. To date, I have only heard of one eminent graduated from my high school. Now this was/is in a middle-class neighborhood and from the only research I've seen on the topic, 60% of the eminent come from families that are considered "very wealthy" and 30% come from families that were impoverished leaving a mere 10% from the vast middle-class, so my high school's graduates were at a disadvantage...let's say typically more like one in 2500 rather than one in 25,000 become eminent.

I know at least a few people who started college at age 9 who have become eminent. Terence Tao and Norbert Weiner, for example. I know of only maybe 5, if even, people who started college at age 9. How many do you know? You'd have to know at least 5000 to make their odds of eminence the same as the general population, and perhaps 2500 to have the same odds as those who start college at 18 (being that 25% or so get college degrees and twice as many *start* college).

And then there is this: people in some states can get a driver's license at age 14 due to living on a farm or needing to drive to school or work. Does anyone expect them to be better drivers (fewer tickets and accidents) let alone win an Indy 500?

[kenf1234]

I know at least a few people who started college at age 9 who have become eminent. Terence Tao and Norbert Weiner, for example. I know of only maybe 5, if even, people who started college at age 9. How many do you know?

That's not true about Terence Tao. He didn't enter college at 9. if you actually read his site and the articles about him, he is actually very grateful that he was kept in a normal school for as long as possible even though he was accelerated in math.

[nysmile]

I'm glad it all worked out for you. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable having my 14 year old son living in a dorm with 18-21 year olds. There is a time and place for everything. According to your description, your son has managed an active social life to complement his academic career. My hope is that it doesn't all come crashing in on him at a later date. Rarely does rushing through "normal" stages of development turn out well. Good luck to your son and may he have a wonderful future ahead.

[galoisien]

Rarely does rushing through "normal" stages of development turn out well.

Huh?

How do you define "normal" stages of development for those who are anomalies in the population?

I don't think ten years of idling your brain will do any good.

[jym626]

If "eminence" is defined as someone who is significantly above the rest of the pack and truly does something to "change the world", I would think that the number of truly "eminent" people is quite low, so no one high school would graduate many people who rise to this definition of "eminence". Since the base rate of people who meet this definition would be extremely low anyway (how many "eminent" people are there??) it is unlikely that any one high school would crank out a high percentage of these folks. However, I would strongly suspect that many high schools graduate people who become very successful, personally, vocationally and/or financially. "Eminence" does not equal success, IMO.

[jym626]

And then there is this: people in some states can get a driver's license at age 14 due to living on a farm or needing to drive to school or work. Does anyone expect them to be better drivers (fewer tickets and accidents) let alone win an Indy 500?

Say whaa??? No one here is equating an average person starting a task early with the expecatation that the skill developed will be exceptional. Many kids start piano at a young age, but few are virtuosos.