<p>I just read this article (it is two years old)
[How</a> MIT Accepted a Student with No High School Degree, Thanks to His Brilliant Programming](<a href=“http://www.geekosystem.com/how-mit-accepted-a-student-with-no-high-school-degree/]How”>http://www.geekosystem.com/how-mit-accepted-a-student-with-no-high-school-degree/)</p>
<p>Has anybody heard of this kind of situations and what programming he did. It has to be pretty good to get in with no HS GPA, SAT or ECs.</p>
<p>There are some people that are simply fluent in CS. It is natural to them, and having never been taught it, it just makes sense. MIT was smart enough to reject the traditional assembly line process of student certification and accept him on his merits of programming.</p>
<p>The link [Good</a> night, Posterous](<a href=“http://cdixon.posterous.com/mit-is-a-national-treasure]Good”>http://cdixon.posterous.com/mit-is-a-national-treasure) that supposedly has the full story no longer shows anything.</p>
<p>MIT has fairly extensive general education requirements (nearly half of the curriculum), so a little more detail would be interesting, in knowing how he (without access to a high school) self-educated enough high school level knowledge to be able to handle the general education requirements in various subjects other than CS.</p>
<p>He entered MIT in 1992. About an ice age ago, in admissions cycles. But MIT says: “Please note that we do not require a high school diploma or GED from our applicants.” They aren’t alone in this, though.</p>
<p>So, the Moral of the story is OP and other kids are planning to go to MIT without HS diploma or GED or SAT/ACT…just like walking the park?</p>
<p>exactly, okla2012. I thought heck with this guy! I passed 8th grade and am flipping burgers now but I am going to go to MIT too.</p>
<p>I don’t think he had general education requirements because how can you if you have never stepped into a HS or home schooled. I think they just took him because they sensed he will be successful in programming. Which he has, because he owns a company or something now.</p>
<p>One of my colleagues never finished high school and wound up with both a BS and PhD from Caltech. He started going to a community college around tenth grade, I think he switched to full time there eventually, and transferred to be a undergrad at Caltech (then stuck around to do his PhD in a fairly short amount of time).</p>
<p>This is not all that unusual for the tippy top students. The University of Washington has two programs for state residents: one program starts kids after 8th grade, another starts in the Honors College after 10th grade. The bar is pretty high just to apply.</p>
<p>One of the kids I know who went through it is now a professor at MIT.</p>
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<p>It not that unusual for colleges to accept transfer students based on previous college work in the absence of a high school diploma (or any high school at all). For example, nothing from high school is required for junior transfer admission to California public universities.</p>
<p>Magnetron, one of my kids is in that program. He joined after 8th grade.</p>
<p>We looked into it for the youngest, but the wife ix-nayed the idea. I’ll keep working on her for the “after 10th” option. I may need your help on that.</p>
<p>Magnetron, from what I have seen so far both EE and Acad are excellent programs. UW seems to be doing a fantastic job taking care of these kids and keeping the parents informed. The best thing about the program is the peer group they get into.</p>
<p>Please feel free to PM me if you need any help.</p>