Fite, another vote here for option 2.
Let me tell you a quick story about my 17 y/o niece. She graduated at 16 and is now in her first year of college, pre-med. I'll never forget hearing her first impressions of college last Fall. With great excitement and passion, she announced that she'd learned more in the first three weeks of college than in her entire junior and senior years of high school combined.
Initially she was aiming for Harvard or similar but instead has been *thrilled* with her final (non-Ivy League, less expensive) choice. Her classes are challenging, she volunteers weekly at a hospital, and she's already made great connections in the local medical community. She even had the unusual opportunity to shadow a thoracic surgeon and attend a lung-removal surgery, where she was allowed to scrub in, view the surgery up close and even assist in some surgical procedures that usually are not taught to students until their 3rd year of med school.
She is thrilled to finally be in college, to finally be able to choose the courses she wants, to be challenged and work to her potential. (All thanks to a grade skip in elementary--otherwise, she'd still be in high school right now!) She loves being in college at a younger age than most kids. She says she feels lucky to be getting this "jump start" on her medical career. And no, she doesn't fit in socially with her classmates. She says, "they're thinking beer, and I'm thinking career." She's a straight arrow and all her friends are the older, more serious students.
From what you've said about Rite, I'll bet he would feel the same way about early entry to college. That's an incredible opportunity.
Hugs,
GG
