<p>"He doesnt live on campus. He cant even drive there. But an 11-year-old is among the new class of undergrads at Texas Christian University adjusting to college life, finding the right buildings, settling in for those easy core classes.</p>
<p>‘Im taking calculus, physics, history and religion. Those are my four classes,’ Carson Huey-You told CBS 11 News." …</p>
<p>I don’t think it is unusual to have to attend a university to find suitable level classes for gifted pre- teens & teens, although acceleration isnt always appropriate. Some schools have been working to find several different alternatives for highly gifted students, having a home base on the university campus for example.
[The</a> performance of students in a program of radical acceleration at the university level](<a href=“http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10089.aspx]The”>Resources for Gifted Children & their Families | Davidson Institute)</p>
<p>This is certainly one way to go about finding suitable classes for the highly gifted as emeraldkity points out.</p>
<p>Our oldest, who had a similar score of 1850 on the SAT at age 12, was doing algebra at age 7, etc., but we and he chose not to do early full time college. He audited a physics class at a local Christian univ. similar to TCU and did part time community college for 5 1/2 years but chose to wait for full time college until the normal age.</p>
<p>I think what makes a successful radically early college experience is the focus of the student on academics and an already decided upon course. This young man is described as being very focused and I think that will serve him well. I like the support that he’s receiving from TCU.</p>
<p>In my son’s case, he hadn’t a clue what he wanted to do at that age and spent his middle school and high school years playing baseball, bowling, chess, violin, and enjoyed math and physics competitions and just plain socializing with his various groups and friends. He was never bored and is enjoying his time in college.</p>
<p>Each family has to find what works for them and it sounds like this family has found it in TCU.</p>
<p>Obviously an extremely bright kid, but I’m not sure he should be in college now. This isn’t because I don’t think he can compete at TCU, but because I think a few more years (not 7, but maybe 3) of secondary school level work, perhaps supplemented by college classes, probably would have helped him intellectually.</p>
<p>Most public schools offer Calculus and physics in high school, so the fact that he is starting with those subjects, suggests to me that a least one more year probably would have been warranted. His SAT Math was a 620, and that is a test of algebra and geometry knowledge - while it is an incredible score for a child that age, and a perfectly fine score for anyone, it doesn’t suggest overwhelming mastery of those subjects. When a child gets that score based on courses he probably took at ages 8-9, I think it is reasonable to assume that he might not only have scored better on the test, but gotten more out of the classes, if he had waited a couple of years. </p>
<p>The 580 Verbal/570 writing certainly indicates someone who could benefit from a few years of high school English. Unlike math, where if you already know all the material taught in the course, there isn’t much point in taking it, a good high school English class - which consists largely of reading novels intended for adult audiences, discussing them, and writing about them - can be stimulating for almost anyone. And again, even if a super-bright ten year old is capable of, say, reading As I Lay Dying, that doesn’t mean he won’t understand it on a different level a little bit later. I’m speaking from personal experience here - I was reading some of the high school reading list staples by 4th grade. Maybe I should have accelerated at some point - I probably could have advanced by a year or two without losing the benefits of greater maturity. But the flip side is that by the time I was in high school and then college, I wasn’t just able to get As - not a terribly high barrier - but to approach texts with a sophistication I couldn’t have if I’d accelerated by more than one or two grade levels.</p>
<p>Again, I’m sure this kid will be fine, academically, at TCU. I’m just not sure why he couldn’t have waited a few years - which might also have allowed him to go to a more challenging school.</p>
<p>The article does say that he graduated valedictorian from Accommodated Learning Academy, which seems like a pretty obscure school as far as the Google searching goes.</p>
<p>Of course, choice of university may be somewhat limited by commuting logistics.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t question this child’s suitability for college admittance just based on his SAT scores. We don’t know if this was just a one-shot, cold sitting of the test or if he took it several times and had prep classes. It’s very likely he took it once, achieved the scores he needed to get into the college he desired and that was it. The educational professionals that know him personally believe that he is more than ready. </p>
<p>As for Calculus and physics, true he could probably take them in a highschool setting, but aren’t there numerous posts (even some current ones) about how most schools want students to be “ready” for calculus and are not requiring that they take it beforehand? Why encourage those students to apply for college yet tell this one he should wait and take the courses beforehand?</p>
<p>As to why a parent would send a very advanced child to college rather than keeping them in highschool I have several reasons. First, (in our experience) it is easier for a very advanced child to fit into the college environment than high school. The peer pressure to conform is not as strong and the maturity level of college students tends to lead to more tolerance and acceptance than what one normally finds in 14-18 year olds. </p>
<p>Second, the pace of college classes is much quicker than highschool classes which is usually more inline with the needs of an advanced learner. </p>
<p>Third, the ceiling is much higher in college. Once this 11 year old finishes calculus for example he has many more levels of math classes at hand. He does not have to find outside sources to continue his studies. Trying to blend highschool class schedules, college classes and possibly online sources can be headache producing, not to mention that the parent usually has to act as guidance counselor/advisor. It’s much preferable to have a college advisor helping to chart the course.</p>
<p>I agree with #9^. High school can be a miserable place for many kids, especially if they are different. Better to skip it all together if possible for some kids. From what I’ve heard, TCU is a welcoming and nurturing place. It sounds like a good decision to me.</p>
<p>I agree with apprenticeprof. I wonder if he might have been better served by going to one of the rigorous private schools in the area such as St. Mark’s. I suppose the school he went to might be top notch, but like Ucb, I couldn’t find any info on it</p>
<p>I agree with #9, too. My son never wanted to go to a traditional high school <em>at all</em>. Thus, part time college and lots of ECs plus interesting homeschool classes and university audits/research made a for a fantastic experience for him…but not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to live in a large city where you can design a great high school/early college experience, so there are plenty of reasons to do early full time college.</p>
<p>prefect, I think private schools are out of reach for most people, at least for us they were.</p>
<p>Seems like a good decision. Can you imagine being this kid and being in fifth grade? And then having the dark years of middle school ahead of you even before reaching your freshman year of high school?</p>
<p>He does not seem like a kid who would have any kind of social anxiety or worry about how he fits in, either. I think he will be more than fine.</p>
<p>Being this kid and being in 6th grade would be miserable. Being this kid and being in 10th grade? Probably not.</p>
<p>Of course, given that he has evidently already taken HS level courses, he can’t go back to 10th grade now, but I suspect that he would have been just fine - and possibly better off - had he gone at a more gradual pace that had him on track to graduate high school at age 14, rather than 11.</p>
<p>Do you know this child, apprentice prof? Do you have more information than his parents or the dean of the college that admitted him? Have you done research on educational placements of profoundly gifted children? Or are you basing your opinion on a one page article and you basic idea of how the world should be?</p>
<p>You have no more knowledge of how this child would fare in the 10th grade than you do of what is favorite color is. Unless you are this child, or are raising him, you really do not know what is ‘miserable’ to him.</p>
<p>I’m sure I’m not the only parent on this board who has had to listen over the years to strangers telling me how my child would be “better off” if we just followed their advice.</p>
<p>^^ Funny how we’re experts on what other parents do wrong, but hold firm convictions on our own decisions.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t presume to judge the choices of parents who have a gifted child any more than I would parents who have a child who is learning disabled or ill. THEY’RE likely to know better what works, and what doesn’t for their child, not me.</p>
<p>which does indicate giftedness, should go to high school for a few years, take honors and AP courses, get his scores into the 700s, and attend a more selective school than TCU. My eldest scored in the upper 1500s as an 8-year-old and would do better now, more than a year later, but he he still has a lot to learn.</p>
<p>Don’t most colleges have minimum age cut-offs for admission? If so, he could be waiting for years to go somewhere more selective, and still not be ready to live away from home. It makes sense for him to go to a local college if he is under say, 17. If he stays with physics, he’ll need a graduate degree anyway to pursue a career in that subject, so he can get his “away” experience then.</p>
<p>I guess you wouldn’t approve of the parents who sent their 8 year old prodigy to an open admission community college (no taking of the SAT or ACT was mentioned), eventually to transfer to a local state university to complete his bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>Given the lack of background information on the student, parents, and the Accommodated Learning Academy (apparently a very small private high school with no significant web presence), most of the talk about whether this student’s educational path is “optimal” is just speculative.</p>