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<p>Again, a false assumption. First, you can actually start graduate school without ever having any undergraduate degree at all, no matter the age. Some insisted our son at age 8 should be in graduate school based on things like his level of discussion in a book group where all other members were adults with advanced degrees in a wide range of areas (law, bio, chem, a psychology professor who also headed up an honors program at a flagship state U, computer science, etc.). Our son’s pediatrician also felt our son might be wise to enter graduate school at age 8 as her own father started Harvard at age 15 and felt the experience a waste and she wondered if he wouldn’t have been happier had he gone earlier or skipped undergraduate school entirely. There is a student who entered college at age 14 and was able to swing going for a master’s in math having never been enrolled in an undergraduate program at all and is doing his Ph.D. in math at Princeton last I heard.</p>
<p>Second, our son started graduate school at age 14 and started undergraduate school at 9, not 10. He took a year between college and grad school to do independent consulting and save up money before starting graduate school.</p>
<p>Third, many kids who start college early go through college at rates faster than 4 years. Sho Yano started college at age 9 and was in a Ph.D./M.D. program at age 12, for example.</p>
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<p>And again, you are incorrect. We heard from professors time and again that it was amazing how our son had better insights, better writing ability, and better reasoning than most other students, even most other top students. This especially surprised some who felt that math/science majors would be lacking in understanding topics such as Asian literature. Our son won national essay contests geared for students years older than himself starting at 6 (and the first computer our son ever had was one he earned in a national essay contest - he even won two computers and gave us the second), and by age 9, was told he could not have his entry included in a high school essay contest as they felt his writing showed style and creativity that they could not hold high school students to, so he had to be classified a college student (never mind that the kid had no formal English writing training past the 4th grade level at that time). His honors psychology professor who he had at age 10 told me after the semester was over, “You know, I was thinking of going to your son and letting him know if he ever wanted any writing help, to come see me during office hours, but after I saw his writing, I felt like I should be the one coming to him for writing tips!” This was in a class where there were in class essay exams as well as written papers. Again, our son has had more exposure to many things in life than many adults, even college-educated adults, and so to think his time on earth is more important than what he’s done while on it is faulty. He is constantly picking up on things most adults miss and can add to discussions what few adults can, frankly, which is one reason I do so miss his living with us (he also gives very nice hugs each morning and night, and I also miss those while he’s in another state).</p>