Anyone start college at a young age

[PhineasJWhoopee]

My son is going to start college at 16.

Has anyone been in this situation, and how did it work out?

I'm a little nervous because he's smart, but average maturity.

 

[Cogman]

Eh, don't worry, He'll just have tons of sex, drugs, and alcohol....




Joking aside, It completely depends on his attitude and partially on the kids/roommates he is around. I've met 16 yos that I was stunned to find out they were 16 (very mature). I've met 27 yos that I was stunned to find out they were 27 (very immature).

If you can trust him being on his own for a day now, he'll probably be fine up at college .

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

I think if he gets involved in a campus fellowship and has some folks looking out for him, he'll be okay.

 

[MJinZ]

No big deal. I graduated College at 21.

 

[TheVrolok]

No big deal. I graduated College at 21.

Don't many people graduate college at 21 .. ? I was 22, but I can think of at least 5-6 friends off the top of my head that were 21.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

No big deal. I graduated College at 21.

Small or big university?

Madison or University of Minnesota are good possibilities for my son.

 

[TecHNooB]

Don't many people graduate college at 21 .. ? I was 22, but I can think of at least 5-6 friends off the top of my head that were 21.

Yeah, most do graduate at 21.

 

[CRXican]

alcohol poisoning

 

[blinblue]

Eh, don't worry, He'll just have tons of sex, drugs, and alcohol....




Joking aside, It completely depends on his attitude and partially on the kids/roommates he is around. I've met 16 yos that I was stunned to find out they were 16 (very mature). I've met 27 yos that I was stunned to find out they were 27 (very immature).

If you can trust him being on his own for a day now, he'll probably be fine up at college .

What he said. I started part time when I was 15, graduated when I was 20, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. If this is something that he wants to do, then I'd say go for it. An alternative would be to do some sort of interesting experience in the mean time. Peace corps, internship in a field of interest, race around the world, etc

 

[Yax]

I went at 16 too. It sucks. Everyone's older than you. When they go to clubs that are 18 or older, you can't go. Can't date any girls while your roomates bring in hot 18 yrold freshmen and play with them. Socially, it's a bad experience.

Part of college is the social life. It's going to be bad if the kid is too young to enjoy it.

 

[SKORPI0]

Started college at 16 1/2 yrs old and 300 miles away from home (mid 70's). Felt homesick for a while, but met some new and lifetime friends. Had to work at the same time and took my time to finish my BS in Engineering. Graduated by 23, a 5 year course (3.8 GPA). Ended up using the degree for just a few years.

 

[theflyingpig]

I had a phd by the time I was 16. What is difficult for others is trivial for me. Everyone knows this.

 

[SLCentral]

Don't do it. I'd kill myself if I was 16 and in college. Jesus.

 

[zerocool84]

Part of college is the social life. It's going to be bad if the kid is too young to enjoy it.

this

 

[boomhower]

Is he going off to college or just going to local school and still staying at home. If it's the latter, no big deal. If it's the former I would be very concerned. I started at 16 and it was fine. But I went to a local university and stayed at home and kept my high school friends. If he is going off and living in the dorms I would be worried.

 

[MJinZ]

Don't many people graduate college at 21 .. ? I was 22, but I can think of at least 5-6 friends off the top of my head that were 21.

A lot do, it isn't a big deal.

But 90% graduate at 22 or above. Most people enter college at 18 and attend for 4 years.

 

[MJinZ]

I went at 16 too. It sucks. Everyone's older than you. When they go to clubs that are 18 or older, you can't go. Can't date any girls while your roomates bring in hot 18 yrold freshmen and play with them. Socially, it's a bad experience.

Part of college is the social life. It's going to be bad if the kid is too young to enjoy it.

Well you know you aren't supposed to drink in College either... except everyone does and 1/2 are under 21.

 

[vi edit]

Would want no part of it. Our dorms didn't even let people under 18 into them. There were a few rare exceptions for those young'ins who were 17 the first couple months.

But 16 is just too young to really enjoy college. But I have the same opinion of normal aged kids who live at home and go to college.

 

[StageLeft]

I started when 17. It was ok but I had to wait longer before being able to (legally) get alcohol. It's only 19 in Canada anyway.

 

[Chaotic42]

I started at 16. Horrible idea. Most people at 16 (or 18 for that matter) are just not mature enough to handle college properly. I would suggest either living at home and going to a community college, joining the military/peace corps/etc, or maybe even getting a job for a couple of years.

 

[MJinZ]

I started at 16. Horrible idea. Most people at 16 (or 18 for that matter) are just not mature enough to handle college properly. I would suggest either living at home and going to a community college, joining the military/peace corps/etc, or maybe even getting a job for a couple of years.

Older you get the stupider you get, I wouldn't mind making college start at 16 for all, and accelerated middle school and high school to make up for it.

Makes it a nice even 20 year old graduate.

Age and maturity is a social construct and completely arbitrary. Men back in the really old times started having kids at puberty and marrying at 13-14. Puberty should be when adulthood is to be considered, as it actually has a biological reason.

Our current adulthood system is completely arbitrary. 18, 21, just numbers.

 

[vi edit]

Age and maturity is a social construct and completely arbitrary. Men back in the really old times started having kids at puberty and marrying at 13-14. Puberty should be when adulthood is to be considered, as it actually has a biological reason.

Yeh and a lot of them were already at 1/3 of their livespan by the age of 14.

 

[MJinZ]

Yeh and a lot of them were already at 1/3 of their livespan by the age of 14.

But that's because they died of sucky stuff... it doesn't invalidate the fact that we could be mature at a much younger age that people attribute to maturity.

 

[Chaotic42]

Older you get the stupider you get, I wouldn't mind making college start at 16 for all, and accelerated middle school and high school to make up for it.

Makes it a nice even 20 year old graduate.

Age and maturity is a social construct and completely arbitrary. Men back in the really old times started having kids at puberty and marrying at 13-14. Puberty should be when adulthood is to be considered, as it actually has a biological reason.

Our current adulthood system is completely arbitrary. 18, 21, just numbers.

Intelligence, wisdom, and education are all distinctly different. Even if you're correct and we do get "stupider" after puberty, a 21 year old is much wiser than he or she was at 16.

 

[PhineasJWhoopee]

Is he going off to college or just going to local school and still staying at home. If it's the latter, no big deal. If it's the former I would be very concerned. I started at 16 and it was fine. But I went to a local university and stayed at home and kept my high school friends. If he is going off and living in the dorms I would be worried.

There's a university about 30 min away, but they don't offer engineering. I suppose he could commute there for a year or two and then transfer to Madison.