A boy in his class is 15 (maybe 16 now). He has to live at home and isn't having a regular college experience. His classmates see him as an oddity who isn't one of them, though they would never say that to him. So he isn't getting an opportunity to socialize with people his age. He's an outsider. This matters. He also lacks independence, and doesn't get an opportunity to take a big step of going away from home and starting to fend for himself while there's still a financial safety net.
Excellent point.
As with a lot of these issues, asynchrony colours the decision heavily. Most of our children *could* matriculate to university early, but that doesn't mean their long term best interests are served by completing their studies thisfast. University is a holistic experience--a coming of age, a social lab, an opportunity to develop adult self-concept, an environment to build lifelong relationships, to think through difficult questions. Maturity is a key component of success in these other non-academic, but arguably important, lessons.
I finished my first round of grad school when I was 20, and returned for a victory lap at 24, with work experience in the intervening years. Throughout the experience, I was about 3-4 years younger than most of my cohort. I was newly 17 when I matriculated as a sophomore in undergrad, and was grateful for the additional "baking" time, because I wouldn't have been ready to live alone at 16. I'm not a prodigy, though, and was happy to be a generalist, so maybe my case is more garden variety than outlier.
My experience the second time was much richer, I was able to take on more significant challenges, and assume leadership positions that built me life-long connections and skills. The extra years in the "real world" also gave me a deeper, more human perspective. Questions or perspectives that would have seemed foreign to me at a younger age were more accessible, and my learning was more thorough.
I agree with aeh regarding gender. I think gender plays into the degree of success accelerants have in socializing into an older peer group. It's more socially acceptable for younger females to associate with older peers, particularly in the context of personal relationships.
For my son, I'm seeing similar social needs to my own, and am inclined to provide greater breadth of subject area study in high school (ideally, dual-enrollment) to fill the time to 17/18 with meaningful, new study. Having a depth of knowledge in a wide range of subject areas--or spending time in a start-up or doing research before enrolling in university--gives students the opportunity to build their perspective holistically, buy some time maturity-wise, and take full advantage of the richness offered by university life. In all but the most unusual circumstances, I would recommend my son live away from home, because his personality is strongly social and independent. (He's 6 now, so this is nothing but premature and subject to wild changes over time!)
I have serious doubts about the merit of sending a 14-15 year-old to university outside the context of SSA in an area of strength, and without strong parental supports, absent compelling personal factors.
I'm not sure why a 16yo should be so miserable going to college while still living at home. Lots of much older kids do it.
It depends on the student, the family, the school, finances, the program, etc. A cost-conscious, introverted student who has close local family ties, who isn't overly concerned about socializing, and who is in a more autonomous program of study would find the experience just dandy. By contrast, an extrovert who is eager to taste independence, thrives in new social networks, and is in a more interactive program of study will feel isolated and not benefit fully from university if living off-campus.
Under our existing age/grade-locked system, there will always be trade offs to acceleration. But there are costs to not accelerating as well. LOG, social skills, degree of acceleration, level of institutional, community and family support, gender, physical and emotional maturity, areas of giftedness, executive functions, among many other factors, all contribute to your personal calculus.
All true! There really isn't one path to acceleration.
Acceleration can be concentrated later in life, if needs can be met in the interim with breadth and judicious subject/whole grade accelerations. In my case, I only had one year of acceleration through middle school, two in high school, and another 1 in university. By back-end loading the acceleration, filling the gap in the interim with a laundry list of extra-curriculars, and arranging side agreements with teachers to conduct a lot of independent study work in parallel with the class, I was able to make quick progress when I was socially and intellectually ready. FWIW, I'm the social brand of giftie, and rounding out the EQ side of the equation was, itself, a fulfilling exercise.
YMMV, as with all things giftie!
