I'm a college freshman studying Actuarial Science and Accounting (well, sophomore, actually if you count the credits I completed while dual-enrolled), and while I have never been tested, I would guess somewhere around LOG 4 by Ruf's estimates. My CoGAT scores, though not IQ, could qualify me for Mensa.

I have been reading discussions here, mainly to help me look back to the experience I had in public school. My parents did not actively advocate for me in school, but I found old documents related to a gifted IEP that I had from K-2. When I was in junior high and high-school I attempted some self-advocacy with limited success (I was able to use the MN PSEO program to attend the University of Minnesota my senior year). I thought I'd join to add some perspective as someone who may have gone through some of the issues your DS or DD is currently facing.

That's all I have!

Hello Lymarin - Welcome!

Good for you for taking advantage of the PSEO program.

I was wondering if your 'look back' is in relation to choosing a career path or more random.

Have your ideas about career changed much over your lifetime?

smiles,
Grinity

Hi.

I'm here mostly because I'm bored out of my mind.

Your reason for posting is better than mine.

I think being bored out of your mind is better than my reason for posting on here, which is that I'm just generally out of my mind

-Mich

I think my need to look back has just kind of bubbled up over the past few years as I've gotten older and tried to get a better sense of what being gifted means for me.

As for the career choices, I happened to find Actuarial Science since I really enjoyed my Calculus classes. However, like many gifted kids, I changed my career plans just about every month, mostly the result of brief, intense interests.

Don't pick law as an arbitrary and/or random career choice.

Unless you are going to law school for free.

And even then it's not the best idea.

Hi Lymarin,

I think it is great to get perspective from your age group and what you are finding. Can you tell us a little about what you pursued in high school, beside Calculus, what you thought about as you entered college, what you felt were options, and about reality in this day and age.

My daughter is only 7 and it is with great interest and anxiety I see a changing landscape of opportunity.

Ren

Hi, Wren!

In high school I studied just about every subject available to me. We had "honors" classes available in English and science, and I also took AP Human Geog., World Hist., US Hist., and Environmental Science. I really enjoyed French because it was different than what most people took and I thought it would be more of a challenge than Spanish. When I was dual enrolled, I also took Government, Econ, enough French to pass my proficiency test, American Literature, and Physics for Science and Engineering (which was tough without much background but the first challenge I'd faced in school in years).

I was extremely stressed about picking the right college, since I knew I needed a smaller, more challenging environment, but being a National Merit Finalist meant comparing those schools to full-rides at larger state schools. (having good grades and SAT scores did get me a fairly large scholarship at my school, however, just nothing extra for NMF).

At first, I wanted to study anthropology because I watched "Bones" fairly often, then I enjoyed chemistry, then I remembered how quickly I picked up foreign languages and thought of being a linguist, and after taking Econ and Calc, I decided I wanted to be an actuary to get a blend of both of those.

It was very weird for me to score well without trying in high school, and it was very refreshing to go to college and find that there are lots of other girls who love math and work to become actuaries or love science and study pharmacy. I haven't felt limited to certain majors at all, since I know I have the ability to succeed in most areas. Being most gifted verbally (then quantitatively), I think knowing how to communicate with adults AND knowing how to demonstrate my abilities has really helped, even if it alienated me in high school. That isn't to say that some fields might be tougher for women to get a foot in the door, but overall I feel my school (especially the business program's Assistant Dean) is supportive of both genders.

How are you liking your college life so far?

I have mixed feelings about it at this point. I did not feel very challenged by a few of my classes this semester, and I am looking forward to courses that I have heard are quite difficult next semester. I chose my current school over a school which might have more intellectually-oriented students because of a $12,000/year price difference between them. I know the actuarial curriculum will be high-level, but I do worry if I'll find enough of a challenge with it because I know classes are offered at only one level in college.

You would probably enjoy the life contingencies class.

The challenges of the actuarial classes are the breadth not the depth.

Personally, I found theoretical computer classes (e.g. algorithms) to be much more challenging than actuarial classes.

The only class I found hard in college was Engineering Thermo taught by a visiting Caltech professor. The next hardest was Mathematical Statistics as the professor was very challenging. I earned a math degree but also came close to an ME and Physics degree as well. The latter helps me every in my job.

Saving money will give you a lot more options post-college to pursue your interests.

Have you thought about an internship or part time job with a firm in your field or even a research position (paid or not) with a professor whom you like in an unrelated field but using stats?

These will give you exposure to the real world problem set that is far more messy and interesting. I did the latter for a few years (unpaid) and worked on problems for professors because I thought it was fun and it was.

If you qualify for Mensa, you should join!

My DD9 is a member. They have wonderful children's programming, and at least around here the grownups get together quite frequently. You will meet some interesting characters.

It has been the most fun for us to see gifted adults interact with the little ones. They are like kindred spirits