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Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

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Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#191

Post by vonmoltke »

TrevorJ wrote: post #180
rtl49 wrote: post #22

“I will never forget the feeling of walking into the lobby of Building 7, looking up, and then touching the pillars to see if they were real. I couldn’t believe I was at MIT. My life and my ambitions moved to another level at that moment.” I think this impressive achievement is more a testament to the role that aspirations acquired during childhood play in determining a person's success than it is a reflection of thi…

Good point. Talent may be what separates the top 1% or performers from the top 5% (where that tiny edge matters) but for the vast majority of the bell curve, hard work counts for so much more than raw aptitude. I think our view of this gets skewed by sports because it really is an edge case where you have to achieve a certain level of performance in a very specific time period because your body isn't in peak conditio…

> Talent may be what separates the top 1% or performers from the top 5% (where that tiny edge matters) but for the vast majority of the bell curve, hard work counts for so much more than raw aptitude.

Perfectly summarized by one of the inspirational banners at my gym (a local independent that caters heavily to student athletes) reads, "Hard work beats talent when talent isn't willing to work hard".

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#192

Post by aidenn0 »

antidaily wrote: post #133

Virgin at 35.

I doubt it. The Massachusetts age of consent is 16, so there's no legal barriers by his Sophomore year. I haven't been to MIT but, for the college campuses I'm familiar with, it's harder to avoid getting laid than it is to get laid.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#193

Post by homulilly »

IshKebab wrote: post #78
Retric wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the idea that the absolute best thing for a highly intelligent person to do is get to collage as soon as possible is a little sad. Life is not a race.

I disagree. It's a race to learn as much as you can before your brain loses plasticity. I certainly wish some of my teachers had spent more time teaching the people that cared and less time helping the D students that didn't. It definitely resulted in a few wasted years of education for me.

Well there's always antidepressants and stimulants to help with that. In all seriousness, don't become a drug addict but if you're really worried about that there's a decent amount of research going on into improving brain plasticity so i wouldn't be surprised if there are drug treatments to "de-age" your brain in the near future.

That said, most of the "critical periods" for learning are over by the time you hit puberty and the ability to learn advanced knowledge, like the kind taught in college, doesn't decline that much with age so I wouldn't worry about it.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#194

Post by gist »

rtl49 wrote: post #22

“I will never forget the feeling of walking into the lobby of Building 7, looking up, and then touching the pillars to see if they were real. I couldn’t believe I was at MIT. My life and my ambitions moved to another level at that moment.” I think this impressive achievement is more a testament to the role that aspirations acquired during childhood play in determining a person's success than it is a reflection of thi…

Thanks so much for your comment. I am quoting it and sending it to my wife because we have differing views on how much time the kids should spend playing computer games (me=almost none).

I was raised in an environment (and at a time) when there were no games like this and I filled the time doing other interesting things that were not only fun but lead to me being able to earn a good living after college.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#196

Post by wahsd »

chris_va wrote: post #179

I went to college early (14, graduated 18). I've spoken with a lot of similar folks over the years, and the biggest takeaway for me was that everyone's experience and needs were different. Some people were pushed by their parents, but mostly it was people who were bored with the normal experience and found an out. Out of that set, maybe about half regret it, and wished they had slowed down and enjoyed high school/chi…

What do you mean by "supportive parents"? I think that eludes some. You can be supportive without really being helpful. Can anyone provide some context as to what that support looked like?

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#197

Post by robotresearcher »

Retric wrote: post #169
webXL wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience recall takes longer with age, and that's only if it's memorized in the first place. I think anyone over 35 can relate to this.

Much of that is simply being out of practice. At 35 you generally don't spend that much time learning new things. But, if you go back and get a masters you can get back into the swing of things.

I've been lucky enough to be in school most of my career. I'm waaaay slower at learning now at 44 than I was at 20. It often frustrates me.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#198

Post by esaym »

I plan on doing something like this for my kids as they get older. I already randomly watch open courseware type stuff offered from various universities and I've always noticed they have decent seeming English and Math sections too. So why not sit my kids in front of it too?

I don't think anyone is really happy with public schools these days. I object because of a Christian background. Yet my non-church going (atheist?) in-laws asked me once about "non-religious" based home school programs for their kids since they knew I would be home schooling. I really had no idea what to tell them.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#199

Post by Klinky »

wahsd wrote: post #196
chris_va wrote: post #179

I went to college early (14, graduated 18). I've spoken with a lot of similar folks over the years, and the biggest takeaway for me was that everyone's experience and needs were different. Some people were pushed by their parents, but mostly it was people who were bored with the normal experience and found an out. Out of that set, maybe about half regret it, and wished they had slowed down and enjoyed high school/chi…

What do you mean by "supportive parents"? I think that eludes some. You can be supportive without really being helpful. Can anyone provide some context as to what that support looked like?

Not being destructive, to start with. Providing a stable environment. Being aware of the options available in life and having the resources to take advantage of them. A true desire to see your child succeed and find themselves, rather than using them to fulfill your purpose or goals. Showing them the success and happiness your own life brings you.

Re: Homeschooled with MIT courses at 5, accepted to MIT at 15

#200

Post by chris_va »

wahsd wrote: post #196
chris_va wrote: post #179

I went to college early (14, graduated 18). I've spoken with a lot of similar folks over the years, and the biggest takeaway for me was that everyone's experience and needs were different. Some people were pushed by their parents, but mostly it was people who were bored with the normal experience and found an out. Out of that set, maybe about half regret it, and wished they had slowed down and enjoyed high school/chi…

What do you mean by "supportive parents"? I think that eludes some. You can be supportive without really being helpful. Can anyone provide some context as to what that support looked like?

Yes, that is tough to define. "Enabling" might be a better way of phrasing it.

I wasn't a completely functioning adult at that age, in a lot of ways. I did not know college was an option, I just complained to my folks that I was bored (like any bored kid). They really helped find things to keep me occupied, and eventually found the college option for me.

In addition, the typical stuff you might expect was also important. For example, paying for college would have been very difficult for me (getting a job at 14 would have been too much on top of everything else). Getting to/from campus was also difficult, and I was too young to live on campus or drive. I also had to deal with all of the normal teenager BS (hormones, depression, etc), in addition to going to college, and they helped (as I expect most good parents do).

Sorry if that doesn't answer your question, the circumstances varied a lot depending on the individual.

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