How many here went to college before age 12?

[WDWDancer]

My parents pulled me out of the public school when I was 10 because I was bored out of my mind...I had already skipped a couple grades and had taken the ACT twice. I enrolled in a private montessori school and graduated from there at the age of 13. Doing that allowed me to focus on what really interested me; I knew since I was 7 years old that I wanted to go to law school and either be a Federal Judge or a Federal Agent. I started interning/working at the local courthouse as a clerk when I was 12 and worked there all through college.

My parents and the school allowed me to enroll at the local community college at 12 so my "senior" year of high school was literally all college classes; I started at a 4 year university in their honors program when I was 13. I majored in Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science graduated with honors and went to Law School where I specialized in International Law. My 24th birthday is approaching fast and I just took a promotion to DC; I go pciked up by a Goverment Agency at 21.

For me this was the right thing to do but like another poster earlier stated it's not for everyone. I've always been an "old soul" and being around an older group of people never fazed me; I was never interested in all the things "kids my age" should be doing. Yes, I never went to a prom, never dated till I was 18, or had sleep overs and parties with my friends. But I don't regret doing what I did and I can honestly say nobody ever treated me differently for it. I don't go around flaunting my age I work with mainly males there is one other female in my office and the youngest is about 28 years old the majority of them are in their late 30's to early 40's with kids my age I proved that I can do my job and until one of them asked what year I graduated nobody had a clue.

Any other questions feel free to PM me...I gotta get to work.

Have a magical day

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

My post disappeared but basically, I said that I did attend college classes (only one or two per year) along with my regular classes starting at age 14. My principal had actually talked to my dad about my taking college classes when I was in 6th grade, but I told him I wasn't interested when he asked me about it and he decided there was no point in pushing me if I said I wasn't interested. I think it had more to do with the fact that he and my mom taught me to read at 2 1/2 and started teaching me Algebra at 5 (For a long time, I had a Snoopy activity book lying around that actually had a couple of basic Algebra problems written inside the front cover. It was pretty funny to look at, because that seems like such a juxtaposition to me.) than with my IQ. When you start learning things that much earlier than your peers, you are going to be way ahead of them unless your parents just stop teaching you (which didn't happen in my case.) I was extremely bored in school and by the time I took the standardized test that they gave all 4th graders in my school, I tested at end of Senior year level in Reading and 10th grade level in Math.

In case anyone is curious about my parents' IQ's or their levels of education, their IQ's are both within 10 points of mine (I think my dad's is a couple of points higher and my mom's is a couple of points lower) and my mom got a degree from Vanderbilt while my dad attended several different colleges (including Tufts in Boston and University of Southern California) but never got a degree. He actually outscored the entire rest of the group on an Engineering test given to mostly MIT graduates.

I'm also similar to WDWDancer in that I'm an old soul. I was always more comfortable with older people than with kids my own age. Even now, it seems that older people have more things to teach me, stories to tell me, etc. than people my own age do. That's the main reason that I have never dated a younger man and the men I date (along with my closest friends) tend to be at least ten years older than me.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Nope, I was a slacker and didn't go to college until I was 18...

 

[Disney1fan2002]

MENSA membership asks for an IQ of 130

I'm not MENSA material, but my IQ is 125. I never knew where that was, but if MENSA requires 130, I'm thinking 125 means I am pretty darn smart!

 

[taximomfor4]

I am assuming you're being facetious. But just in case, since I'm not SURE if you're seriously asking, my 160+ IQ dd didn't go to college at age 12, she will graduate high school at 16 though.

Another point. DD was tested by an old, well-experienced person in the psychoeducational arena. She explained that IQ is likened to what you can learn, at what age, sort of. So logic-skills that normally kids are able to grasp at age 12, a child with an IQ of 160 would be able to grasp at age 8. Roughly.

I wanted to reiterate what pp have already mentioned. An IQ of 160 is quite high. But 12yo going to college are probably MUCH higher...ANDDDDDD they must have the personality to strive......ANNNNDDDDDDD most likely they don't struggle with a learning disability.

 

[boettj]

Interesting thread. One of my good friends graduated high school with a 1580 on his SAT's. He also scored high on his ACT's, but I don't recall those numbers. He went on to Princeton and graduated top of his class. Honestly, I bet he could have gone to college at age 12.

People in our school despised him because he was so smart. Many of them hoped he'd go to Princeton and just be average. Well that didn't happen. He was a great friend, and never belittled me while I struggled through high school.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Does clown college count in this poll?

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

boettj, I never saw a reason for belittling anyone who was struggling either. In several of my classes (especially in Algebra and in Computer Science), I basically acted as an assistant teacher/tutor to the girls that were having a hard time with the class. It made me feel good when they grasped a concept after I explained it to them. I also tutored at the local elementary school through both of the high schools I attended (one in Tennessee and one here in Florida.) I hope your friend was able to help you with some of the things you struggled with.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Kids that go to college before 12 are not "gifted" they are prodigies. That is an entirely different level and a 160 IQ certainly isn't anywhere near prodigy level.

Actually, not true. 160+ is extremely rare, extremely gifted and is considered genius level. As mentioned below, statistically, of the 233,000 members of the DIS, only 28 of them would have an IQ of 155 or over.

Another point. DD was tested by an old, well-experienced person in the psychoeducational arena.

This is a very important point. One cannot know their IQ unless they have sat down with a licensed professional, usually a psychologist, and taken a standardized IQ test. There is much that goes into the scoring of a test and that is why one has to be licensed to administer it. The only way to get a valid IQ score is to sit down and take the Stanford-Binet, the WISC, etc.

Even then, the actual test you take or how the person administers it can affect your score. Nurturing, stimulation, parent involvement, even having a hot breakfast can affect scores. Read up on the Milwaukee project for some interesting theories on nurturing youngsters and IQ.

The on-line IQ scores are just games. None of them are even remotely valid. Even most testing in schools for entry to the gifted programs are not a true IQ score, but only a heads up or a general indicator to the school. A standardized IQ test takes a few hours, so schools do not usually use a standardized test to test for gifted. They usually use a group test which will give an approximate score, but it is not the actual IQ. A friend of mine has an entire practice based on testing kids for gifted classes when they are on the borderline of the group test. It runs about 50/50 on how accurate the initial testing was.

I am always surprised at how many of the DIS posters have been to a psychologist, paid the big bucks for a full IQ test, and know their true IQ scores. The psychology world would be booming if the same percentage of the population in real life would be visiting psychologists to be formally tested.

For fun, here is the normal bell curve of IQ distribution. You can find where you are on the bell curve.

As noted, an IQ of 90 - 109 is considered normal.
Only 2% of the population has an IQ over 130.
Only 0.012% of the population has an IQ of 155 and over.

According to the DIS, today there are 233,780 members. If the DIS was a true representation of the entire population (both sides of the bell curve) and each of those screen names were unique, that would mean that out of 233,780 members only 28 members would have an IQ of 155 or above, 235 members would have a IQ of 145 or better and only 4,700 would have an IQ of 130 and above.

And as a previous poster mentioned - IQ is your potential learning ability. What you do with that IQ is completely up to you. Having a high IQ is not always the smartest person and a guarantee at straight A's and success. A person with a 100 IQ and a higher work ethic, who studies hard will be more knowledgeable and more successful than the 160+ person who never opens a books, never studies and skips class.

In fact, some of the high IQ kids actually do struggle in college. Because they had it so easy in public school, they never learned how to study. So, it is a shock when they start taking upper level classes and they can't slide by like they are used to.

IQ is also based for a good measure on academic knowledge. It does nothing to measure a person's wit, artistic abilities, people skills or even street smarts.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

You got a paper cap? I was given an aluminum conehead.

You got an aluminum conehead! I am sooooo jealous.

 

[EthansMom]

Similarly to a previous poster, I started taking some college courses at 16. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[newddmommie]

I too took college courses as soon as I entered highschool. I wouldn't have wanted to go to college at 12. No matter your IQ, 12 year olds are not emotionally prepared for the college experience. In my school district, no one even skips a grade anymore because of the emotional aspect. We do have AP, Gifted, and several other options to challenge students. I also happened to know my IQ, but only because I was tested for the gifted program and found out when I graduated what the actual number was. Generally students are not told until they graduate. Just for informational purposes, my IQ is 145.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

Nah- not 12 for me.

I was spanked.
And I'm a winter baby.

I just never had a shot.

 

[Took]

Seriously though...I do NOT see how having a high IQ (or even a GENIUS IQ) translates into going to (or harder still...being accepted into) college before the age of 12? And why 12? Why not 9? Such an arbitrary number.

This whole thread (while hopefully tongue in cheek) is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I should stop licking the screen.

I agree. I have a very high I.Q. (yes, "genius" level). I went to college
at 18. I was very "smart" and an excellent reader/writer/thinker but had maturity and organizational issues that caused me difficulty (I am, almost ceratinly, ADD, based on my experience with others in my family who've been tested).

A high I.Q. by a particular test does not necessarily translate into early college or anything like that. I did enjoy being in our church class for college students, starting when I was about 14. I was completely ready for that level of maturity and thought in a "low-pressure" environment, but I could never have handled the independence and self-discipline that college courses demand then.

 

[Aisling]

I am assuming you're being facetious. But just in case, since I'm not SURE if you're seriously asking, my 160+ IQ dd didn't go to college at age 12, she will graduate high school at 16 though.

Another point. DD was tested by an old, well-experienced person in the psychoeducational arena. She explained that IQ is likened to what you can learn, at what age, sort of. So logic-skills that normally kids are able to grasp at age 12, a child with an IQ of 160 would be able to grasp at age 8. Roughly.

I wanted to reiterate what pp have already mentioned. An IQ of 160 is quite high. But 12yo going to college are probably MUCH higher...ANDDDDDD they must have the personality to strive......ANNNNDDDDDDD most likely they don't struggle with a learning disability.

I'm not being facetious.

Previous threads about IQ, and the large number of Disers/their children with high IQs made me wonder if their are any very gifted Disers, like Little Man Tate, Michael Kearney, Doogie Howser, and the other children I've seen interviewed on TV who were such fast learners that made college the logical choice at an early age. I'm fascinated to see that there are a couple of them here who have posted, and I enjoyed reading about their experiences of being a child in college.

A few times, I've seen the IQ of 160 posted here, which is an IQ at the beginning of genius level. I'm sorry if I made you feel you needed to explain why your DD didn't attend college at an early age; this is a light, curiousity-inspired thread, that's all.

 

[mill4023]

I've never taken an IQ test. I was always in the top 5 to 10 percent on standardized tests. I was 97th percentile on my SAT's. I started college full time at 16, but I really only skipped one year. I turned 17 a few weeks after starting my first quarter.
My 2 oldest kids are the same way. Both of them score 95th to 99th percentile on their grade level standardized tests.
One of them is a straight A student. The other barely passed his classes in middle school because he doesn't particularly like doing homework, though he seems to be working harder in his first year of high school. Both of them have been in gifted programs at school.

After my experience with skipping just one grade, I would be very hesitant to have any of my kids skip a grade. It might work for some people, but I found it very difficult to be younger than all my classmates.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I went to college at 17 and I'm sure I am on the dummy side of the IQ bell curve. I really don't know my IQ, but I'm sure it isn't very high.

That said, wouldn't the numbers for the bell curve work better if one takes into account that:

1. Dumb people usually don't use internet chat boards to discuss IQ.
2. Most people with high IQ's see a thread about IQ's and post there right away. (If I knew my IQ and that it was low, I certainly wouldn't go around posting the number when others are posting they are 155+).
3. One would think that people with higher IQ would have access to computers and jobs whereas they have a moment here and again to post during work hours.

 

[wdwfan16]

I would have graduated college by the age or 12 but my parents decided to spank me and knocked that idea right out of my head.

 

[downsouth]

Yea I was bagging college chicks when I went to college at 13.

 

[Inigo]

I graduated high school at age 16, after skipping a year. Went to college, still at 16. Since I was obviously smart, as proven by entering college at 16, I didn't need to study much. Yeah, right. It's a lot easier keeping grades high than it is to raise them back up again once they hit the toilet.

After my freshman year at Indiana University, I quit, moved to California to live with friends for a couple years, and realized how much I really didn't know. When I returned to college, I was a lot better prepared to learn, since I no longer thought I didn't need to study.

I think if I had gone to a smaller school straight off, I would have been OK, but I went to a large school, and wasn't ready for the independence when it came to college. I was ready to live on my own, I just didn't get the whole "college is different than HS" thing. I'm glad I went, since I made life-long friends, and learned a lot of lessons, that first year. I'm also glad I went to CA for the next two years, since that also helped me mature. When I returned to IU after my hiatus, I was ready to be there.