<p>" Michael Viscardi, 17, is one of 16 Davidson Fellows for 2006, The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has announced.</p>
<p>The institute spotlighted the fellows, all minors, for their achievements in science, technology, mathematics, music, literature and philosophy.</p>
<p>The fellows received scholarships of $10,000 to $50,000. Viscardi was one of three fellows to receive the maximum amount.</p>
<p>He is among those who “demonstrate the potential of America’s next generation of innovative leaders,” said Jan Davidson, co-founder of the Reno, Nev.-based institute.</p>
<p>Viscardi, who was home-schooled, has received numerous awards for solving the Dirichlet Problem, originally formulated in the 19th century to study the thermal equilibrium of a heated metal plate. The solution may someday be used to help develop next-generation technology for airplanes, spacecraft and medical-imaging devices. It may also contribute to astronomy, fluid dynamics and other fields.</p>
<p>Late last year, Viscardi won the top $100,000 prize from the prestigious Siemens Westinghouse Math, Science and Technology competition…"</p>
<p>I find it neat wikipedia already calls him a mathematician. His project sounds fascinating. He said he took a graduate level course in complex analysis and worked on the problem, which itself looks like a beast if you see it.</p>
<p>I saw him present at a couple science competitions. You can tell immediately that he is more than smart at math - he is a genius at it. His voice sounds very much like a robot. I have never seen another human being like him. While most people that succeed do so because they have a lot of ambition, I am convinced that he does because his brain is quite different.</p>
<p>i have a theoretical question that might end up sounding stupider than i thought so bare with me. so, if there was a kid like this who is a davidson fellow and won seimens and has done all this extraordinary stuff and is undoubtedly extremely smart, and then he writes these awful essays and appears to have no social skills and doesn’t get along with others and so forth, would he still be accepted? i’m sure this isn’t the case with michael viscardi and i know none of you can answer for sure but i’m just curious as to what you guys think.</p>
<p>There are kids with amazing accomplishments who get into some colleges and not others, and characteristics that show up in interviews seem to be one influence on that. Everything I’ve read about Michael Viscardi (I’ve never met him) suggests he makes a great personal impression too, so it’s hard to imagine a basis on which he wouldn’t be admitted to the college of his choice.</p>
<p>He has a great personality - i know one of my friends needed calc help and he helped her really nicely without the “i’m superior” attitude that some people have. He just isn’t that type of person. He’s a “normal” person usually… and he gets along really well with others. Although he is a bit strange… but yeah, he’s a genius.</p>
<p>He doesn’t seem “normal” by any stretch of the imagination to me. I mean I met some very smart math/sci, perfect SAT guys who did rsi and that kind of thing, and they seemed normal with the exception that they are very into math/sci. But Viscardi is completely different. Quite frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he were a human-alien hybrid. If you did an x-ray of his brain, I would bet every penny I own that the quantitative section is massive relative to the rest of the brain.</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer to your question but my opinion is “I hope so”. Someone of this calibre, even if they lack social skills, etc., has the potential to solve some real problems and contibute tremendously to the world. They need to havr the opportunities to develop their unique talents.</p>
<p>Another hypothetical question - does he really need these scholarships? Wouldn’t Harvard and the other top universities be clamoring to give him a free ride so he’ll go there?</p>
<p>yes, because harvard doesn’t give merit based scholarships.</p>
<p>on a side note, it seems that refusing to give merit based scholarships is silly. while it is true that nigh everyone who gets into harvard has already demonstrated academic excellence, students like viscardi, who are simply a cut above everyone else, probably deserve special treatment.</p>
<p>Re: merit money: why should H give merit money? In most cases, it’s used to attract students who would not come without the inducement; but Harvard does not feel the need to provide such inducement.</p>
<p>Re: special treatment. What kind of special treatment should Harvard provide? Red carpet? Special housing? Different meals? Students who are more advanced than others can take more advanced classes. I’m sure none of them want to have “I’m special” emblazoned on their foreheads or inscribed on their T-shirts.</p>
<p>There are two flavors of Honors Math (25 and 55) which he may both skip and go straight to graduate courses. Other than these two, I do not believe that courses are designated as Honors. And I believe it is as it should be.</p>