<p>I know a girl who got into Washington U. at St. Louse after 3 yrs of high school. She is not the brightest ( but she is smart), did not even take SAT due to poor planning. Actually she got bored at her junior year and decided to go to college instead staying for one more year of high school.</p>
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My son had a different educational path, with a very good but not perfect SAT and tons of community college classes, and he also applied to college at age 16. He was accepted at Rice, Harvey Mudd, Caltech, and Colorado College. He was only rejected from WashU, and then after waitlisting. It’s my impression that Caltech is the one most likely to let kids in based on raw brainpower, so they’d definitely be a good place to apply, even without Feynman.
Harvey Mudd, although a math/science school like MIT and Caltech, is more well-rounded than Caltech. I assume MIT is also more well-rounded than Caltech, but don’t know it.</p>
<p>My son is actually taking a gap year and starting at Harvey Mudd in a year (he’ll be “normal age” for the first time in a decade!). He is working in an internship with a professor at the local university, and also doing the programming that he hasn’t made time for over the years.</p>
<p>If your son decides to stay around for another year before applying, make sure he’s still categorized as a high school student, either by truly being one or by homeschooling and taking college classes DUAL ENROLLMENT. If he applies with post-high-school college classes, he’s a freshman and it’s much harder to get in.</p>
<p>Friends’ son skipped a grade in elementary school. Very bright kid - self motivated. Attended several JHU camps while in middle school. Finished all the requirements needed for high school (except for a half year gym credit) - and got into BU after three years of high school. I am not aware of the details, but apparently BU does have special provision for early grads. He’s going to graduate next year and by the looks of it, has had a successful time at BU. Very mature kid. So, I guess it depends on the kid - but it can be done.</p>
<p>Is your son a math and science kid? Have him look at MIT…they are often interested and welcoming to young admits.</p>
<p>Thanks, folks. I read some of your comments about MIT and CalTech to my son, and he immediately went and explored both colleges’ websites. MIT looks a great deal more versatile than I had expected – there even appears to be a major in Theater Arts. Theater major at MIT??? Also, it appears that the creator of today’s web, Tim Berners-Lee, is on the faculty at MIT. That impressed my son! CalTech’s retro orange-and-green website design, on the other hand, inspires me to think of the place as a home for geeks with no sense of taste – are pocket protectors still the rage there, too? We still have to look at the underlying substance of their offerings, however.</p>
<p>I have immediate projects to attend to, and no time at this moment to address other questions raised. But please keep those comments coming until I get a few free moments.</p>
<p>LOL about the MIT vs Caltech websites. Three years ago, when my older son was looking at websites I thought MIT had the best site on the web. Well designed, useful admissions blogs. MIT also has a good architecture school, so I think there is much more of a culture of design there than Caltech. That said, I think the Caltech campus is one of the prettiest in the country - especially in the spring when the jacaranda, iris, myrtle, and wisteria are all in bloom more or less at the same time.</p>
<p>I can’t say I ever saw a pocket protector at MIT even when I was there 20+ years ago. I worked in the library of a professor whose specialty was African history - he was a very interesting guy.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in Johns Hopkins, they seem to have a longstanding commitment to college-ready younger students. Also, given your son’s interests, have you considered Stanford? It might be just the spot. Finally, I have a kid who went the USC RHP route, which involves admission into USC’s honors program immediately following junior year of hs and where NMF’s receive an automatic 50% tuition scholarship. I just want to say that there have been no social/maturity/readiness issues whatsoever. The impetus for this came entirely from my kid, who liked his high school a lot, but felt done with it by the beginning of junior year. He’s been sublimely happy from the first moment at USC, which was a dream school for him as it is tops in his major.</p>
<p>carnegie mellon</p>