<p>Matt wrote a [blog</a> entry](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/homeschooled_applicants_helpful_tips/doogie_howser_et_al.shtml]blog ”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/homeschooled_applicants_helpful_tips/doogie_howser_et_al.shtml ) about this a while back.</p>
<p>He says
Younger students are not a huge population at most colleges as at MIT, but each year we do admit, after careful review, a number of early- and mid-teenagers, those who, even though young, would truly be a significant part of this community… with these students’ applications, we’ll for the most part treat them as any other application, but we will ask a few additional questions: Why is this student applying to college now? Have they exhausted all of their resources? Do the teachers support this decision? Does this student have the emotional and social maturity to be a successful college/MIT student?
</p>
<p>I’ll add that it’s not particularly rare to be a relatively young student at MIT, when you add the kids who graduated high school early with the kids who skipped a grade in their early years and the kids who were sent to school early in the first place.</p>