quark Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thought this might be interesting: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201502/what-happens-students-the-fast-track-college There's a chance that DS might follow this track but only after we've exhausted ourselves thinking of ways to enrich his journey further and further (within interest, budget and other constraints) before exploring the uni path. Also stumbled upon this link via that article: http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Personal_Stories/Read.aspx I have heard of A Nation Deceived but didn't take time to explore the website till today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 This is interesting to me as well-because I could easily see DD going that route as well. It's nice to know that it seems to be, overall, a positive thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Yes. I do wonder though. I think for DS, his path will most likely be directly to uni itself, not via an early entrance program. Unless we consider his CC journey to be early entrance of sorts. I wonder how starting directly at uni vs early entrance special programs will affect things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Yes. I do wonder though. I think for DS, his path will most likely be directly to uni itself, not via an early entrance program. Unless we consider his CC journey to be early entrance of sorts. I wonder how starting directly at uni vs early entrance special programs will affect things. What is early entrance at the colleges around you? Here early entrance is starting directly at the university (leaving high school and becoming a full time college student before the typical four years) rather than going through a program such as dual enrollment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 What is early entrance at the colleges around you? Here early entrance is starting directly at the university (leaving high school and becoming a full time college student before the typical four years) rather than going through a program such as dual enrollment. I was referring to the article I linked in the OP and the research on UW's early entrance program. There are no early entrance programs near where we live. The closest would be the EEP program at Cal State LA but that's not very close. I do not consider DS's dual enrollment as early entrance so for him any early entrance would be starting directly at the uni before the typical age. One of the benefits of an early entrance program like EEP or UW's would be having a same or similar-age social group while attending uni classes. I'm just wondering aloud if that makes the early college experience more successful for these kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I was referring to the article I linked in the OP and the research on UW's early entrance program. There are no early entrance programs near where we live. The closest would be the EEP program at Cal State LA but that's not very close. I do not consider DS's dual enrollment as early entrance so for him any early entrance would be starting directly at the uni before the typical age. One of the benefits of an early entrance program like EEP or UW's would be having a same or similar-age social group while attending uni classes. I'm just wondering aloud if that makes the early college experience more successful for these kids. Oh sorry, I didn't realize the students in the article were part of an actual program. Around here a student with the permission of parents and guidance counselor can apply to attend university early - without actually graduating from high school first and it is called early entrance. I thought that was what the article was referencing. The student becomes a full time college student. Other options, such as dual enrollment have the student attending university, but remaining a high school student. So the article is referring to programs such as Jenny in Florida's daughter attended where groups of underage students attend together. I don't think we have anything like that around here either. I was hoping those stats were for students that entered the general university population at a young age. Overall, they were quite positive. FWIW, my dd started at the university very young and she has no regrets thus far. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 [...] Around here a student with the permission of parents and guidance counselor can apply to attend university early - without actually graduating from high school first and it is called early entrance. [...] FWIW, my dd started at the university very young and she has no regrets thus far. :) That sounds lovely, being able to access university early like that without feeling the need to graduate from high school first and close potential doors. And wonderful for your DD too. :) The state uni closest to us allows a concurrent enrollment option but students are limited by availability of seats. We are considering this as an option for DS too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I wish we had something close that would be a good fit. DD's interests, at least right now, really limit her to a relatively small percentage of schools-with the nearest several hours away, and that makes the idea of entering younger than typical less than ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 That sounds lovely, being able to access university early like that without feeling the need to graduate from high school first and close potential doors. And wonderful for your DD too. :).Most early entrance programs allow entrance without a high school diploma/graduation, but you are still effectively closing doors because the student becomes a matriculated college student. Dual or concurrent enrollment is the only way to keep those doors open by still being considered a high school student. We've gone both routes and each has worked well for my children. My accelerated students have never felt a need for a similarly aged peer group so an early entrance program was not on our radar. With their personalities and abilities, I fully believe that not accelerating them to college early would have been a disaster for them. Edited for tmi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I wonder how starting directly at uni vs early entrance special programs will affect things.We were at Quarry Lane School for an event and Bard College at Simon's Rock, MA had a booth. The chat with recruiter/prospective student interviewer was interesting as to what is out there. The school just enrolled someone from Hayward into the program. http://simons-rock.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I found this article interesting as we live in Washington and have toured the EEP they offer. Ds did not like the feel of it at all. It was very different than the other college that we visited (small nationally ranked LAC). The EEP felt competitive and very much so less friendly. I do not think it was intentional, but more the kids being young and striving to be the best/first/top of the class. It was not an atmosphere of "us" - very little coming together. The idea of synergy came from the LAC. Until that point, I had not considered how much emotional maturity came with feeling comfortable in your own skin. The younger kids were not as comfortable with themselves (understandably, who is at 14,15,16) as were the 18,19, 20 year olds. My son's extroversion makes him a major teamwork kid. His work with the environmental community on some of the more major campaigns has directly shown him the benefits and getting over the personal identity stuff. The vibe alone was enough to say no to the EEP. My personality would have LOVED it, so I can really see this becoming a self fulfilling/self selecting group dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 EoO, thank you for the interesting perspective. It's good to know someone who has seen UW's EEP for themselves. Hmm, now I wonder if the discomfort stems from the very fact that they are with age-mates? DS is very much comfortable in his own skin with classmates ranging from about 18-ish to 30-ish, and in one class up to 70-ish. He doesn't feel like the odd one out, and thankfully, so far, depending on the class, there has been nil to very little attention directed at him for being younger (although a few people have hinted in a friendly manner that he has no business being so tall for his age! :lol: ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ds feels the same way - totally comfortable with adults when discussing getting something done. He likes to play with same aged peers, but not study or work on projects. I do not think the vibe comes from anything the adults are doing or not doing, and I do not know if it can be actually shifted. It felt more like the kids did not want to seem wrong, silly, or feel embarrassed. When I considered their ages, that made sense. They are with their same aged peers, being cool is really important regardless if your intellect. No one wanted to look foolish. The LAC had students who had already moved through that phase of their lives. Joking, being silly, and in general letting go of those embarrassments made the environment much more open. I also wonder a bit if by the sheer nature of being younger and set into a program which creates an entire group of younger kids, if the situation becomes a place where you have to prove yourself. When Ds is the only kid, people tend to get over it fairly quickly. I wonder if there were an entire group of youth, if the cultural impact would be different. Just pondering the concept.... I do not 100% know the reason for the extremely different vibe, but it was apparent. Not bad, but not right for my son. (I so wanted it to be a good fit!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 It's interesting to see the difference. DD is tiny for her age and looks younger than she is, with a fairly small voice. She's comfortable with adults and does fine with the college and grad students, but when she really comes into her own is when she's with other smart kids, and she lives for those moments. For her, doing math competitions, for example, isn't about the competition, but about the tribe and belonging and the social side. Yet she's also intensely competitive. I can see her thriving in something like the UW program (except ror the "other side of the USA" part) in ways she doesn't in being the little kid on a research team-but probably only if she could be on a research team of similar kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Quark, I think you can take solace in the fact that you are following your child. At least I do. I've decided that in the end, I will know that I trusted my gut, and followed my kid. That keeps me from going crazy. (Mostly. :willy_nilly: ) (And I know my kids are young, so I have zero qualifications to give any sort of advice on this. It doesn't stop me though....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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