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    Joined: Feb 2011
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    18-19 is quite typical, according to DD, and this makes complete sense to me in light of her peer cohort's birthdays over the years-- she is a full 3 years (and in some cases 4) behind the "typical" students.

    Late kindergarten entry becoming the norm is to blame, I suspect.



    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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    Quote
    Parents who worry about sending a young student to college should note that the high school environment may be worse.
    Agreed.

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    Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
    18-19 is quite typical, according to DD, and this makes complete sense to me in light of her peer cohort's birthdays over the years-- she is a full 3 years (and in some cases 4) behind the "typical" students.

    Late kindergarten entry becoming the norm is to blame, I suspect.
    Not according to Study: Kindergarten ‘redshirting’ less common than previously reported
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    The practice of “redshirting” kindergarten students by delaying their school entrance for a year is not as widespread as previously reported, according to a recent study from the University of Virginia and Stanford University.

    About 4 percent of children delay kindergarten, the study found, based on an analysis of national longitudinal data that tracked more than 10,000 infants from birth in 2001 through school entry.

    Earlier studies and news reports have estimated national rates between 5 percent and 19 percent or even higher.

    The redshirting rate is higher for boys (5 percent compared with 2.5 percent for girls), for white children (6 percent compared with less than 1 percent for black children), and for those from wealthy families (6.4 percent for the wealthiest quintile compared with 2.3 percent for the poorest quintile).


    "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell
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    Where I am, the numbers for redshirting are much higher. My young-for-grade kids routinely have classmates up to two years older than they are.

    It's not surprising that these phenomena are different from place to place.

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    Originally Posted by DeeDee
    Where I am, the numbers for redshirting are much higher. My young-for-grade kids routinely have classmates up to two years older than they are.
    Agreed. This may be fueled, in part, by having many measures reported by "grade level" rather than by "age". Having measures also reported by "age" or only reported by "age" may tend to discourage red-shirting.

    Meanwhile, college admissions may be evaluating the accomplishments of 20-year-old applicants as compared with those of students who are 15 or 16 and who therefore may have been too young to qualify for certain internships and experiences (but in some cases may have looked beyond the mainstream to ferret out or create unique opportunities).

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    I grumble about Ivies, but they (and other universities) do provide smart and intellectually curious students the ability to learn about many different fields, as exemplified by the likely next Secretary of Defense:

    Faculty Career Profile of Ashton Carter

    Quote
    Therefore when I rather unexpectedly was accepted into a good college, Yale, I was determined to make the most of it. I disdained the “preppies” and other privileged students who seemed to regard college as an opportunity to enjoy freedom at long last. I was an intensely serious student, what would probably be called today a “grind.”
    At Yale I ended up pursuing two entirely different majors – physics and medieval history. There was no relationship between them in my mind except that both fascinated me. I liked dusty archives, learning to decipher manuscripts in medieval script, and learning all the languages necessary to read the primary and secondary historical literature, especially Latin. I wrote a senior thesis on the use of Latin by contemporary monastic writers to describe the vibrant world of 12th century Flanders in which they lived. I also enjoyed English legal history and the foundations of the Common Law as established in the 11th through 13th centuries. I also did a lot of work on the hagiography of Saint Denis, patron saint of the French monarchy during its formative period in the 9th century.
    Physics was entirely different: clean and modern, logical and mathematical. I was lucky enough to be asked by a professor to assist him on an experiment in elementary particle physics at the then-new Fermilab outside of Chicago, home of the world’s largest particle accelerator. I would fly back and forth from New Haven to Chicago, feeling very serious and very important. We were involved in the search for the quark, a sub-atomic particle then only theorized. I eventually wrote my senior thesis, which was later published, on the “charmed quark.”
    As far as course choice was concerned, I had no interest in between the extremes of medieval history (history, language, philosophy) on the one hand, and science (physics, chemistry, mathematics) on the other. It may sound shocking to Kennedy School students, but I have taken exactly zero social science courses in my entire life. My arrogant view at the time was that life would eventually teach me political science, sociology, psychology, and even economics, but it would never teach me linear algebra or Latin. It seemed best to get my tuition’s worth from the other topics and get my social science for free!
    The end of college brought the usual crisis of what to do next. Such a bimodal distribution of training and interests made the problem more acute. The default solution was to go to medical school, since my father was a physician and I had worked in hospitals back in Philadelphia.
    Fortunately, I was rescued from this dilemma by the awarding of a Rhodes scholarship, entitling me to free study at Oxford University.
    ...

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    I read the excerpt about Ashton Carter with interest, especially since he graduated from my high school, a run of the mill, suburban public school. Of course, he obviously must have been a very different type of student than I was smile.

    But, Bostonian, I would agree that the ivies and ivy caliber schools really do have a lot to offer. The rap they get as nothing more than a Wall Street cattle chute is unfair. Students get tremendous intellectual stimulation, not only from top-notch professors, but from (finally) being in classes with like-minded peers. They also offer unparalleled financial aid.

    One of my kids is in an ivy right now and is having an amazing time - finally challenged intellectually, taking a range of interesting classes, and meeting interesting people. He is as far from preppie as you could get.

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    I don't know if this has been commented on up thread, but some local g/t kids are taking courses at Harvard Extension around age 14/15. Also, it looks like kids outside of the Boston area are potentially able to enroll in courses, or even in a MA program, at Harvard Extension online.

    Eugenie de Silva completed a MA through Harvard Extension online (http://eugeniedesilva.com/eugenie-carys-de-silva). I don't know how common that method, but notice Eugenie is enrolled now in a PhD program through Leicester U (UK) online too.

    Yes, Harvard Extension isn't Harvard. That's a given. However, it might provide some challenge that so many of us are searching for with our kids and be doable for some needing a more non-traditional path. From what I've heard, many of the faculty at Harvard or nearby colleges/universities teach at Harvard Extension and it's a small pittance of the tuition too.

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    Not surprising. I don't recall seeing a comparable point made about Brown or Dartmouth - not that there isn't grade inflation there too. Grade inflation is ubiquitous, I think.


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