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(Early) College Planning and Success Stories

"If these options for advancement had not been available to students..., boredom and lazy learning habits could have developed, Davis says, causing problems throughout their lives. Gifted students begin having problems when their intelligence is mismatched with their curriculum..." Sara Tennessen, in Little Man on Campus

See also ... Early Entrance College Programs and College Scholarships

College Planning for Gifted Students: Choosing And Getting into the Right College by Sandra L. Berger

Everything you need to know and do, starting in 7th and stepping right through 12th grade, to plan for college for your gifted student.  Why don't the school counselors tell us this?!  Timelines, checklists, and more
 

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges by Loren Pope

Thinking about college? Looking for the 'right' college for yourself, or your child? This book is for you! Also available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca
 

Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different by Donald Asher

Thinking about college? Looking for the 'right' college for yourself, or your child? This book is for you! Also available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca
 

College Results Online by The Education Trust

Compare college statistics, including graduation rates, record of diverse graduates, size, SAT scores, costs, and more...
 

College Summer Research Programs

Summer research opportunities for undergraduates, before and during college - these are important to a college student's future!
 

Parents' Perspectives of Early College Entrance For Profoundly Gifted Children: Readiness Issues and 1st College Class Options and Testing for Admittance and Choosing Enrollment Options by Beth Wright

A comprehensive look at early college, from soup to nuts!
 

Radical acceleration and early entry to college: A review of the research by Miraca U.M. Gross, in Gifted Child Quarterly

Research provides strong support for the use of thoughtfully planned and monitored radical acceleration as a process allowing educators to respond to the academic and affective needs of a significant subgroup of the gifted population. These students earn higher GPAs, and they are more likely to complete college on time or early, earn general and departmental honors, make the dean's list, enter graduate school, engage in research, and embark on prestigious careers. Research also documents positive outcomes for social and emotional development...
 

12-year-old begins medical school by Chicago, Illinois (AP)

Sho isn't in junior high. He's a first-year medical school student at the University of Chicago, where he's the youngest ever to attend one of the university's professional schools...
 

14-year-old is youngest ever to enroll in University of North Texas' Honors College by Amy Dodd Thompson, Denton Record-Chronicle

s far as University of North Texas administrators can recall, Lauren Coker is the only 14-year-old to ever enroll in the Honors College there. But her older classmates don't intimidate the freshman, who says college has been good for her. "It's probably the best environment I've been in," Lauren said. Professors are open to questions and opinions, she said, and she feels she's learning – and learning a lot – at a good pace...
 

14-year-old senior defies doubts by Cynthia Boyd, Twincities.com Pioneer Press

There's no doubt he's smart.  After all, he graduates fifth in his class at Spring Lake Park High School on Saturday. He has a 3.9 grade point average. He's taken a string of honors classes. He slam-dunked 11 college courses. He's hitched a practically free ride to a respected, out-of-state university.  And -- oh, yeah -- he's only 14...
 

15-year-old high school grad prepares for college this fall by Jennifer Beeler, Martinsville Bulletin

Typically at the age of 15, teenagers are thinking about getting through high school.  But Annemarie Westphalen, 15, is picking out her fall semester courses and thinking about decorating her dorm room at Hollins University.  Early on, her mother realized that Annemarie was unusually intelligent for her age when she wrote and delivered a speech at her preschool graduation. She even preferred to read books during nap time.  “She was smart,” Jeanne Westphalen recalled, “but we just had no idea...”
 

19-year-old Okoye poised to join NFL by John Zenzor (AP)

Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye wants to be a top 5 pick in the upcoming NFL draft, help his team to the Super Bowl as a rookie and do a good job managing all that money. Being able to legally grab a beer with his teammates will have to wait a couple of years.  He started school at age 2 1/2 , skipped sixth grade and entered high school in Huntsville at 12 after his family moved from Nigeria...
 

Acceleration: Valuable High School to College Option by Nancy Robinson and Kathleen Noble

Provides some practical part-time acceleration options, as well as full-time acceleration options. Not accelerating a gifted child causes them to abandon the intellectual pursuit and become at-risk for difficulties...
 

After-school activity? Try college by Mark Clayton

Christian Science Monitor: After lunch, he grabs a different pile of textbooks and heads off to college... "I do miss out on stuff. But in 30 years it's not going to matter whether I missed my freshman dance or not. Instead of flipping burgers, I'll be out making a difference."
 

Age has been no barrier to this freshman by Mitchell Milbourn

Sarah Shive looks like a normal Marietta College student, but there is one important fact most students do not know about her. Shive is a thirteen-year-old child prodigy from a small town... Update from Sarah's mom: Sarah completed law school at Ohio State Moritz College of Law this spring, and this morning received word that she has passed the Ohio Bar. She will be admitted to the Ohio State Bar on Nov 5 at the ripe old age of 20. She had to petition the Supreme Court of Ohio for an exception since she is not 21. Another success story!
 

All Rivers Lead to the Sea: A Follow-up Study of Gifted Young Adults by Kathleen Noble, Nancy Robinson and Susan Gunderson

...accelerating one's secondary education is as healthy a decision for many highly capable students as remaining with agemates.  The social and emotional development of most highly qualified students has been neither compromised nor harmed by acceleration.  Early entrance to college may prove to be one of the most navigable rivers a student can run... (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Philosophy

Things to know when you're still in undergraduate... a 7-part series that answers many of the questions you have, or should have...
 

Boca math whiz, 18, earns master's degree from FAU and heads to Princeton

Arie Israel isn't your typical doctoral candidate.  He doesn't have a bachelor's degree.  He never received a high school diploma.  In fact, he's barely old enough to vote.  But today, on his 18th birthday, the Boca Raton whiz kid will get his master's degree in mathematics from Florida Atlantic University. And next month, he will attend Princeton University, where he will enroll in a math Ph.D. program. One of the world's top mathematicians recommended him for the program.  But Israel doesn't see his accomplishment as any extraordinary feat...
 

Boredom, bet lands kid in college at 12 by Marisa Shultz, The Detroit News

When James Ellison turned 16 last month, his first drive was not to high school -- but to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he's a junior studying physics.  Ellison is not your typical teen, although he modestly says skipping five grades is attainable feat for other kids.  "It's just easy," said the Lincoln Park teen. "I don't understand why other kids couldn't do the same thing."  Ellison found himself in college at age 12 because of boredom and a bet...
 

But What About the Prom? Students' Perceptions of Early College Entrance by Kathleen Noble and Julie Drummond

This study examined student perceptions of early college entrance, focusing on the reasons students choose this unusual educational option; their experiences with peers, regular-age students, and professors; and the effects of skipping high school on their social, emotional, and intellectual development (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

Career Planning for Gifted and Talented Youth (ERIC Digest E492) by Barbara Kerr

Youthful brilliance in one or more areas does not always translate into adult satisfaction and accomplishment in working life... Some factors that can contribute to problems with career planning are presented here, along with ways of preventing and intervening with career development problems...
 

College Planning for Gifted and Talented Youth (ERIC Digest E490) by Sandra L. Berger

Gifted and talented (GT) students often have problems beyond those of most other students who consider college and career choices. A systematic, collaborative approach is needed...
 

Colleges That Change Lives

National college fairs featuring unusual colleges...
 

Considering the Options: A Guidebook for Investigating Early College Entrance (Parent Version) by Nancy M. Robinson and The Davidson Institute Team

For students whose development is markedly more rapid than that of their age-mates, there eventually comes a time when they are academically ready for college-level work at an atypically young age. For some, this may mean one or two semester early; whereas other students may be ready at a much younger age.  Designed to help you assess certain aspects of your child’s readiness for early college entrance.  At the same time, your son or daughter should be working through the Student Version, which is designed to serve as a self-study guide to help students gain perspective...
 

CU's new BMOC: boy marvel on campus by Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Thirteen-year-old Ryan Kramer isn't into model airplanes. He wants to design real ones. In the fall, Kramer will become one of the youngest students ever to enroll at the University of Colorado, where he will major in aerospace engineering...
 

Different strokes: Perceptions of social and emotional development among early college entrants by Kathleen Noble, Tara Arndt, Tristan Nicholson, Thor Sletten and Arturo Zamora

31 UW Early Entrance students participated in focus group discussions in which they discussed their social and emotional experiences as young college students. All believed themselves to be more mature than they would have been had they gone to high school and all reported themselves to be well-socialized...
 

The Early College Option by Kathi Kearney

The early college option is a positive one for many highly gifted students. When accompanied by academic readiness, strong motivation, support systems, and attention to the unique issues of family and individual development that become part of the accelerative experience...
 

Early Entrance to College: A Guide to Success by Michelle Muratori

Choosing the right college, preparing for college success, and making the adjustment to college... for early college entrants!
 

Early Entrance to College: Students' Stories by Paula Olszewski-Kubilius

The essays that follow describe the fears, anxieties, hopes, problems, and triumphs of 11 students who chose to go to college early... (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

An Eight-Year Evaluation of SMPY: What Was Learned? by Camilla Persson Benbow and Julian C. Stanley

We have examined the validity of SMPY's identification and educational facilitation procedures by means of longitudinal research. These principles, practices, and techniques were shown to be effective and transportable to various settings. If there is a special lesson to be learned thus far, it is that curricular flexibility, augmented by special fast-paced courses, can work wonders for young, able, highly motivated students...
 

Finishing College When Most Begin by Jacques Steinberg

In the fall, he will begin studying at Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, among the youngest recipients of the scholarship in at least two decades. "He's just as typical as any 18-year-old," the father said. "He's very mature, but he messes up, just as we all do, from time to time."
 

Five Years of Early Entrants: Predicting Successful Achievement in College by Linda Brody, Susan Assouline, and Julian Stanley

This study evaluated the achievements of 65 young entrants as beginning undergraduates in a highly selective university. The group as a whole was found to be quite successful. Compared to nonaccelerants, the early entrants tended to graduate in a shorter period of time and earn more honors at graduation
 

From feds on down, AP students are being neglected by Walt Gardner

Until recently, the one program for gifted students in public schools that seemed immune to criticism was AP...  But AP is now facing a backlash that worries parents and students. A series of questions about the caliber of instruction have surfaced... With mounting criticism from so many sides, another college-level offering known as the dual enrollment course is slowly gaining traction. These courses are taken either at college or at high school, with instruction paid or supervised by the college...
 

Gee Whiz! Kid 

THERE AREN'T many 16-year-olds who are PhD students. Meet Gábor Lukács. The Hungarian-born teen is at York this year starting doctoral studies in mathematics and statistics...
 

Helping Gifted Children and Their Families Prepare for College: A Handbook Designed to Assist Economically Disadvantaged and First-Generation College Attendees by Avis L. Wright and Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University

Created to assist high school juniors and seniors and their parents prepare for the college admissions and financial assistance processes, this booklet will attempt to identify and explain assumptions, terms, and procedures associated with applying to college or financial aid; give helpful tips to parents and students; highlight resources which can lend support and assistance; and will also provide a checklist designed to chart those activities critical to the admissions process...  Also available in PDF format (requires ^Adobe)
 

How Can I Help My Gifted Child Plan for College? by Sandra Berger, an ERIC Parent's Brochure

Early steps parents and their gifted children can take to prepare for college and to ensure that the college experience is positive
 

I'd Much Rather be Here Than in High School An Interview with Carwil James, an Early Entrant to Northwestern University

Carwil's advice to students considering early entrance...
 

The Impact of an Undergraduate Honors Program on Gifted University Students by Thomas P. Hébert and Matthew T. McBee

At the university, gifted students discovered within the honors program an intellectual and social network with other gifted individuals like them. Through several components of the honors program they developed significant psychosocial growth...
 

Karisa Solt: NJIT's Youngest Graduate by Robert Florida

At 14, she took a physics course at NJIT and, later the same year, took the SATs — “just for fun.” She scored 1450. At 15, Karisa was admitted, on full scholarship, to NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College, where she majored in biomedical engineering. At 18, she finished her class work and became the youngest student ever to graduate from NJIT....
 

Keeping Their Talents Alive: Young Women's Assessment of Radical, Post-Secondary Acceleration by Kathleen Noble and Raina Smith

One way [to reverse the trend of women being underrepresented in technical and scientific careers] is to create an accelerated educational environment where females do not have to downplay their intellectuality to be accepted by peers... (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

Kid on Campus By Cristina Rouvalis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Any 13-year-old is a walking contradiction, a tug between adult and childlike urges. But when you start college at the newsmaking age of 12, the contradictions are even more startling.  Jessica's mom says "They are ready for college. Colleges don't accept them if they are not ready."
 

Little Man on Campus by Sara Tennessen

They come to college in search of knowledge they cannot find in their high schools, middle schools or even elementary schools. And although these kids are sometimes a little shorter and a lot smarter than their classmates, they are accepted as peers and welcome the challenges they encounter... 
 

Love and Work: The Legacy of Early University Entrance by Kathleen D. Noble, Robert C. Vaughan, Christina Chan, Sarah Childers, Bryan Chow, Ariel Federow, and Sean Hughes

Early university entrants do not fit the stereotype of the socially isolated, unhappy “nerd.” Yes, they value intelligence highly. Yes, they seek a high degree of intellectual satisfaction and challenge in all aspects of their lives, both personal and professional. Yet overall the participants in this study revealed themselves to be well-rounded, balanced individuals... (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

Markedly Early Entrance to College: A Multi-Year Comparative Study of Academic Performance and Psychological Adjustment by Paul M. Janos, Nancy M. Robinson, and Clifford E. Lunneborg

...for a constituency of exceptionally talented - but quite young - students, college enrollment, particularly when undertaken in concert with other able and motivated peers, can be both academically enhancing and facilitative of personal and social growth. (requires ^{Adobe Reader})
 

Middle-School Parents Have Good Intentions but Little “College Knowledge” in the Duke Gifted Letter

Despite good intentions, few parents of middle-school children are taking the actions needed to ensure their children can attend college.  Many families of middle-school students...are not sufficiently aware of postsecondary education options...
 

More About "Young Entrants to College: How Did They Fare?" by Julian C. Stanley and Ann M. McGill

Do students who enter college two or more years younger than the typical age develop well academically, socially, and emotionally? Do persons who graduate from college three or more years younger than the typical age prosper thereafter?  Generally, results were quite favorable for both groups, perhaps somewhat more for the young graduates...
 

Musical Prodigy to Graduate by Lisa Klinonsky

At 16, is youngest member of senior class at U-M...  Today, eight years after he first played for U-M music faculty, 16-year-old Cullen recently played his final recital for his teachers
 

My College Guide

College search, dear admissions, will I be accepted?, and tons more...
 

Navigating the Road of College Admissions for High-Achieving Students by Michele M. Paiva

High-achieving students are apt to look at higher learning institutions earlier and more in depth. They are looking at college guides; looking into scholarships and what the college has to offer...
 

Phillips Family Spans a Century at Carnegie Mellon

On the surface, Emilie Phillips looks no different than other Carnegie Mellon students, but two things distinguish her from her fellow graduates: She's the fourth generation of her family to graduate from Carnegie Mellon and she's only 18 years old...
 

A Primer on Economics for Financial Aid Professionals by Sandy Baum

Approaches financial aid from a perspective that is too often ignored. Written by an economist who has studied financial aid in depth, it asks aid professionals to think more broadly than they otherwise might about both the logic underlying the allocation of student aid and the potential impact of the aid system on the behavior of students and...
 

Real Genius by Benjamin Potter

It’s a story almost worthy of Hollywood.  In fact, similar tales have been spun with typical West Coast dazzle, where gifted children often are depicted as frail recluses, robot-like super-geeks or bumbling social misfits.  Twelve-year-old Alex Brueggeman, however, has a cheery disposition that lacks the drama of the silver screen. Instead, he lives a well-balanced life that includes attending The University of Memphis...
 

A Summary of Research Regarding Early Entrance to College by Paula Olszewski-Kubilius

Research results suggest that early entrants continue to achieve at high levels in college. Also, most students make the adjustment to the social scene on campus easily and have friendships with typically aged college students...
 

They Went to College Early by The Fund for the Advancement of Education (1957)

Reviews the Program for Early Admission to College of the Fund for the Advancement of Education.  Includes details on the colleges, the students, academic performance, social and emotional adjustment, and more...
 

Thinking Through Early Entrance to College by Paula Olszewski-Kubilius

More and more colleges are instituting special early entrance programs to attract and nurture exceptionally able younger students...
 

Tips for parents: Help with federal aid for early college entrants Davidson Institute for Talent Development

Many early college entrants and their parents run into roadblocks when seeking federal student aid. However, families and students should not give up. Early entrance college students are eligible for federal aid as long as specific requirements are met...
 

Tips for parents of profoundly gifted children on college admissions by Jon Reider

PG children will typically want and need to access college level material at an age much earlier than the traditional college student.... While a year or even two won't make much difference to a college, students in their early teens often face a challenge of being accepted by college administrators. Because these children are so bright, they can do the work..., but the "gatekeepers" like to imagine that they are experts on adolescent psychology...
 

Total enrollment in all degree-granting institutions, by sex, age, and attendance status, with high alternative projections: Selected years, fall 1993 to fall 2013 from NCES National Center for Education Statistics

In the Digest of Education Statistics, note the numbers for full- and part-time college enrollment, current and projected, for men and women 14 to 17 years old...
 

UP Diliman Class of 2007 has 8 top honors (UP Diliman Information Office), Philippines

Mikaela Irene D. Fudolig, BS Physics with a GWA of 1.099, will lead the top honors. She will also deliver the valedictory address on behalf of the graduating class.  Only 16 years old, Fudolig is the youngest student to be graduated by the University in the recent years and one of only two admitted to UPD without a high school diploma and without taking the UP College Admission Test...  Also read College life begins @ 11
 

U.S. Census Statistics (requires Excel)

Showing younger kids in college.  Numbers for kids ages 14-17 are increasing in black students, while decreasing among white students, and remaining consistently low among Hispanic students...
 

Virtual College Tours

Virtual college tours, webcams, campus maps, college videos, movies and pictures
 

Where do you go when you're too smart for school? by Bob Braun, NJ Star-Ledger

To have a profoundly gifted child, the Killpack family of Highland Park has learned, is a joy mixed with problems. "We'd be happy to find a school that meets his needs," says Daniel Killpack.  He and his wife of 19 years, Patricia, are parents of Dakota, a 14-year-old young man who has been out of school nearly all his life -- until he enrolled at Middlesex County College and earned an associate's degree.  Dakota started college at 9, in Colorado...
 

World’s youngest professor can’t legally drink by Bob Considine, on the TODAY Show

Alia Sabur, a prodigy in many ways, says she wants to share her knowledge... Also read Sweet 16 -- and a grad student by Carrie Stetler, The Star-Ledger. She read at 8 months. Now she's the nation's youngest doctoral candidate.  "Everyone is always surprised when they talk to me," says Alia, a Long Island native. "I'm not weird or quiet or showing you how amazingly smart I am."  For Alia, college was a relief. "People were very respectful and accepting," she said. "They weren't patronizing." Older articles: At 14, she's working for a Ph.D. in engineering, Teen is musically talented, too. and Pomp and Unique Circumstance: SUNY prodigy, 14, all set to graduate by Olivia Winslow

 

Young, Gifted and Skipping High School: Va. College Feeds Academic Cravings by Maria Glod, Washington Post

The school [Mary Baldwin College] offers students as young as 12 a jump-start on college in one of the leading programs of its kind. It also gives brainy girls a chance to be with others like them. By all accounts, they are ready for the leap socially and emotionally, and they crave it academically....
 

Young law school grad skips the bars and tries to pass the bar instead by Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times

At an age when most of her peers are just finishing high school and heading to college, Kathleen Holtz is already punching the clock at a Century City law firm.  She has no doubts about acing July's grueling law exam -- the final hurdle to becoming a bona fide lawyer. "I felt the bar exam went very well," she said.  That kind of bravado can be expected from someone who started college (Cal State LA) at age 10 and entered law school at 15. 18-Year-Old Kathleen Holtz Passes the California Bar
 

Young Mr. Smith Goes to College by Jennifer Lenhart (Washington Post)

It was the first day of the fall semester at Randolph-Macon, and Greg, a 10-year-old who only three years ago started second grade, was eager to begin his freshman year
 

Young Teen College Students Report Happiness on WSB TV

Students who entered college when they were 12 to 14 years old don't fit the stereotype of unhappy "nerds" who are humorless, isolated misfits, according to a new study. University of Washington research paints a different and much more positive and multi-faceted portrait of these gifted students. "In reality they are extremely versatile, interested, interesting and sociable," ...
 

Young trees bear fruit in China's program for gifted teens

They are a group of prodigies who have skipped years of primary and even secondary school education to enter college at a tender age -- mostly under 15 and the youngest at 11.  Most of them have continued to amaze the world with flying colors later on, academically and professionally...