Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums THINKING BIG About Gifted Education Very young HS grads. What next?

Sorry, just thought I touch in here - I didn't mean to imply that people in real life were judging early college entry decisions - just that when I first became a parent I was shocked at how much parents judged eachother (breastfeeding, bottle feding, routines, attachment parenting, controlled crying, red-shirting, extra-curricular choices etc - you're always doing the wrong thing according to someone, when really most everyone is just trying to do their best). Apologies for any confusion!

DS's school had open house this week, and after visiting his 6th grade classroom we stopped by his old 3rd & 4th grade classrooms where his same-age peers are this year. I can't even begin to contemplate life for him in either of those classrooms. This serves as a keenly pointed reminder of why we choose grade-skipping for the kid. We'll deal with college when we have to, but for now we had no other viable option.

Thankfully, this didn't come up for DC20 or DC17. I'm not sure either of them would have been ready for living away from home without a structured program like PEG.

My own experiences were pretty good overall--much better than being at grade level (alternated homeschool and traditional school at grade level depending on where we were living at the time). Rather than leave home before 18, I audited classes at the local university (no credit, so I could stay a freshman for scholarship purposes later), attended weekly department lectures, and did research (started around 10). It really helped me to keep going intellectually without having to move away/give up scholarships/pick a career that early. Around 15, I started shadowing, doing more substantial research, and interning away from home for a few weeks a year (on my own or staying with family).

It was a good set-up for full-time enrollment in my later teens, as I was able to pass out of most introductory classes/some upper division classes and take a wider variety of classes at a higher level without giving up scholarships and a chance to attend a rigorous college.

As for MD-only and MD/PhD programs, I'm in an MD/PhD program right now. My medical school class had some kids as young as 19 or 20 when we started medical school, some of whom had taken a year or two off after college to gain more clinical experiences (problems volunteering during college due to young age). It seems to have worked out well for them, and they will still be able to finish medical school relatively early.

Kids are typically almost 6yo when they enter 1st grade and thus 22 = 6 + 12 + 4 years old if they start medical school immediately after college. One MD/PhD program http://www.umassmed.edu/mdphd/academics/faqs.aspx says student typically finish in 7-8 years, which would put them close to 30. One reason I support acceleration and early college is that
highly gifted students will often pursue graduate degrees, and I think they should be working, marrying, and (maybe) having children before they are 30 years old.

Wow that's wonderful to hear Dottie-Dear!
Yippee!
Grinity

Gosh Bostonian. We've had enough stridency on this topic already, don't start going

"they should be working, marrying, and (maybe) having children before they are 30 years old."

said with a smile.

Ren

Well, I do strongly believe that people should be entering the "real world" before age 30 and will guide my children accordingly. I put my son in KG at 4 and will put my daughter in KG at age 4.7 partly for this reason -- they will each by saving a year, the way I look at it.

Here's how this parent solved some of the issues of early college:

http://www.kget.com/news/local/stor...ege-together/TqKzZDOyvkmB6x4n58y1_g.cspx

But I do not understand why she is going to Cal State Bakerfield next and then to law school? Why not to law school now?

In the U.S. law schools require incoming students to have a B.A. or B.S. degree, and they weight college grades heavily in admissions. So do medical schools, although there are a handful of 6-year medical programs not following a 4+4 schedule.

Someone who does not understand the basics of the how the American educational/credentialing system works needs to do some background reading.

I do NOT think aspiring lawyers and doctors should be forced to spend 4 years getting a B.A. before professional school, but I have not been made king yet.