@DreamerMom, I understand as ShawD really wanted to get out of Dodge and start college. She was not early but her birthday was in June and she was often the youngest kid in her class in public school (close to a year younger than the oldest kids in the class) and when we moved her to private school, parents had frequently had held their kids back to give them developmental advantages and she was sometimes two to three years younger than her classmates. We thought she could benefit by a gap year to mature. But, she was so eager to go and fell in love with a school with great school spirit. She spent one semester there. She was a pretty good student but it was work to get her to get preemptive tutoring and help but she finally did. However, in week one, she decided switch from biology to be more hands-on and study nursing. Her existing school told her she’d have to reapply as a freshman because she had been admitted to the Faculty of Science and not the Faculty of Nursing and couldn’t transfer within the school.
The good news: She was admitted for the second semester to a five year BSN/MSN program and somehow instantly matured. It was interesting to watch. She started working really hard and wanted to be at the top of her class and was for the remaining 4.5 years. She is a very bright kid and while she was doing her nursing clinicals in various places including Harvard, BU and Tufts teaching hospitals, doctors would out of the blue tell her was very smart and should go to medical school. She said she wanted to be a Nurse Practitioner and was fully employed as one by age 23.
Anyway, we saw confidence and work levels soar pretty much upon the transfer. So, it happens. Might have happened sooner had she taken a gap year, but not sure.