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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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« Jesus has an M16 | Main | Poor Nancy Pearcey »

She got in

Category: Personal
Posted on: May 23, 2006 6:33 PM, by PZ Myers

My smarty-pants daughter got accepted to UMM…she's going to be starting at the university at the way too young age of 16 15^*.

^*She insists she'll only be 15, which is technically true…but her sixteenth birthday will fall in the first week of classes.

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Comments

I suppose congratulations are in order, then... but sixteen? I couldn't have gone a year earlier 18. It would have really freaked me out.

Posted by: Ithika | May 23, 2006 6:40 PM

Wow. I took a couple of summer classes at George Mason when I was that age, but I sure wasn't fully ready for college full-time. Given what happened a year later when I went off to Arizona for my first full semester, I guess you could say I wasn't ready then either. Congrats to her!

Posted by: Linkmeister | May 23, 2006 6:44 PM

We've been warning her that there's going to be some major culture shock. She's going to be living at home with two professor-types, though, so we'll get her acclimated fast, I hope.

Posted by: PZ Myers | May 23, 2006 6:45 PM

Congratulations indeed! I think you'll be able to help her through any shock just fine.

Posted by: rrt | May 23, 2006 6:50 PM

Why is that too young? The social issues are going to be there, no matter where she is or what she is doing. If anything, there is advantage to her having substantive coursework to wrap her mind around.

I'll admit to some bias. I started university at 16, and finished my BA at 19.

Posted by: Russell | May 23, 2006 6:53 PM

15. I'm starting college at 15. Tsk.

Posted by: Skatje | May 23, 2006 6:53 PM

15, dang!

Congratulations, and may you graduate at 18, get your PhD at 22, and retire at 40. :-)
(But with a long life, tho.)

Posted by: George Cauldron | May 23, 2006 7:07 PM

Hooray! Skatje, I started college at 15 and graduated at 18. It was a gazillion years ago (well, I'm class of '92 from my school so I suppose not a _gazillion_) and in a different situation than yours (parents were 300 miles away, the school was very, very small, etc) and now I'm an old fart, but if you ever feel the need for support from someone outside your network but who has been there and done that, please don't hesitate to email me (random internet stranger).

Posted by: JM | May 23, 2006 7:20 PM

Sure, she may be a genius and the daughter of an accomplished evolutionary biologist (and an equally wonderfully mother whose resumé, as it were, I am entirely unfamiliar with), but has she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior?

Perhaps you should consider BJU, or perhaps a lovely little school in Pensacola. That will get the smart out of her, post-haste.

Posted by: Heliologue | May 23, 2006 7:33 PM

#10

Congratulations! I don't know how I've read this site
over a couple of years and not noticed the UMM! Guess
I've been in a haze. Anyway, UMM was a fantastic school
to attend as an undergrad (class of 1989) and the new
science building is fantastic!

Enjoy! So, what major is she declaring?

Posted by: pholus | May 23, 2006 7:50 PM

#11

Congratulations Skatje!

I wasn't really ready to start college when I did (17), but I suspect that has a lot more to do with me being a moron at the time than it does with age. It sounds like you're going to do very well.

Posted by: The Disgruntled Chemist | May 23, 2006 8:02 PM

#12

I started college when I had barely turned 17, and away from home at that. Good for 'em, I say!

Congrats to the whole family!!!!

Posted by: Carlie | May 23, 2006 8:08 PM

#13

Plenty of the folks I know who started college at 15 or 16 did just fine. Me, I started at 17. (And, I managed to spend an inordinate amount of time in grad school.) Still waiting to see how I'll turn out.

For what it's worth, JM is decidedly not an old fart.

Posted by: Dr. Free-Ride | May 23, 2006 8:08 PM

#14

So has she graduated from high school already, or will it be a part-time in each thing? I admit I'm fuzzy about such things - they have those kinds of half and half arrangements here, but way back in the day when I was in high school we had so many requirements that there wasn't a prayer of having space in the schedule for college classes.

Posted by: Carlie | May 23, 2006 8:10 PM

#15

Too young! Having a relaxed senior year of high school is way more valuable than jumping into college early!

Posted by: Nick (Matzke) | May 23, 2006 8:58 PM

#16

congrats. My wife began college at 15 too - we met in college - she was 16 at the time and a year ahead of me. I assumed she was a year older than me as well instead of 2 years younger - her younger age didn't really show, probably because she carries two (and only two) X chromosomes. I am sure any well-adjusted, independent-minded daughter of an atheistic evolutionary biologist will do great. There are certainly some perks to starting this phase "early" - a lot can be accomplished before turning 30 - my wife just turned 30 and is already 3 years removed from her family practice residency! Just try not to get too overwhemed by people being visually and verbally impressed by your age whenever it comes up.

Posted by: theodosius_35:125-129 | May 23, 2006 9:05 PM

#17

Well, condolences on not making UW-Madison, but UMM is a very good fall back school. [grin]

Posted by: flatlander100 | May 23, 2006 9:18 PM

#18

Dang overachiever, Skatje. ;-) I thought I was cool taking part-time classes at 16, and even cooler saying I started college at 16, because my birthday always falls in the first week of classes too.

Oh well. And although it wasn't Morris, at least I've never had to endure a school in Wisconsin.

Posted by: BJHokanson | May 23, 2006 9:27 PM

#19

Congratulations to her! I started MIT a week into being 16, and it's been wonderful. No one looked at me any differently if they found out, and most never even had any reason to find out, so I wouldn't worry about her being singled out.

Posted by: Ally B. | May 23, 2006 10:02 PM

#20

Congrats to Skatje! I wish I had started college earlier, but my high school had an option where you could take community college classes senior year and I couldn't afford it (you had to pay tuition, of course). I did the AP thing so I had some credits going in, but in high school I had never realized the myriad of options for getting into college *sooner* and I sometimes feel a little tweaked at myself for not bothering to learn about my options early instead of just assuming it would all fall into place.

Posted by: BrassyDel | May 23, 2006 10:14 PM

#21

Whether starting young or old, learning is a wonderful opportunity and lifelong adventure. Enjoy the ride Skatje.

Posted by: with a Y | May 23, 2006 10:58 PM

#22

So, uh, PoliSci right?

I just assume with all your activism.

Be warned though, the best way to be disillusioned with politics is to study it.

Posted by: Coathangrrr | May 23, 2006 11:12 PM

#23

Well, congrats, Skatje... I've always maintained waiting till 18 to start college is a waste (I started at either 14 or 15, depending on how you define "start").

I'm gonna echo JM and say that if you need outside-the-network support or advice, feel free to ask me.

Posted by: Alon Levy | May 24, 2006 6:38 AM

#24

I never made it to university, so I'm taking off my eyepatch to give Skatje a double evil eye!

But seriously, best of luck to her. Sixteen does sound awfully young, but I'm sure you'll keep her grounded in real life, PZ, so she won't be tempted to go off on some over-achieving binge.

Posted by: NelC | May 24, 2006 7:49 AM

#25

Too young! Having a relaxed senior year of high school is way more valuable than jumping into college early!

No. It is worth noting that for many people, an extra year of high school when one is ready academically for university would be annoying and frustrating, rather than relaxing. #2 son was definitely ready to leave highschool a year earlier (ie starting at 16.75) than he actually did, at 17.75 (evidenced by his high marks/grades - no one should get 100% in a creative writing course).

At college, at least in theory, people are there because they want to learn, not so much because they are forced to be, or are just "marking time" until they can leave.

Posted by: Theo Bromine | May 24, 2006 7:57 AM

#26

Be warned though, the best way to be disillusioned with politics is to study it.

I would think losing one's illusions would be a positive change.

Congratulations, Skatje.

Posted by: Caledonian | May 24, 2006 8:11 AM

#27

Congratulations! I started college at 14, myself, and had a lot of fun. I hope it goes well for you!

Posted by: Philip Brooks | May 24, 2006 11:24 AM

#28

At college, at least in theory, people are there because they want to learn, not so much because they are forced to be, or are just "marking time" until they can leave.

In practice, it seems most of them are marking time until they can graduate with a piece of paper that helps them get a middle-class job.

Posted by: Alon Levy | May 24, 2006 11:55 AM

#29

Many congratulations to both generations. Feel that nursing home creeping up any, PZ?

Posted by: John Pieret | May 24, 2006 12:29 PM

#30

I think that a much higher proportion of students should start college at age 16. For at least half of HS students (by my guess), the HS social experience is painful and humiliating. Ordinary college classes are usually more demanding than advanced HS classes in elite schools, and many students are ready for the challenge.

When I started college, four years of HS foreign language counted as one year of college foreign language. Even if the multiplier were only 2, you'd still be better off going straight to the real stuff. A lot of people end up taking pre-calculus, HS calculus, advanced HS calculus, and advanced college calculus in sequence when they could have done it all in two classes in college. And so on.

I assume ability and motivation, but a stiffer challenge can increase motivation.

Posted by: John Emerson | May 24, 2006 1:25 PM

#31

Congratulations, Skatje--you will do phenomenally well in college, I'm positive. HS is a load of folderol* (as I'd bet you've already figured out) and a fine place to leave as quickly as possible. Enjoy yourself and have fun studying things that matter to you!

*not a slam on any HS teacher-types who may be reading this... as in all things, one takes the bad with the good... but I'm speaking from my own experience. Your results may vary.

Posted by: Molly Newman | May 24, 2006 5:28 PM

#32

I'm all for starting college as early as possible. I figure that if a kid can manage her education, she doesn't need to be in high school any more, and if she can't, she should still be in middle school. So, high school is superfluous, unless you really like that social scene. My kids all started college (through various subterfuges, because they didn't finish, or in some cases even start, high school) by twelve. I myself started college early but took ten years to finish. Along the way, I married, had three kids, and took whatever classes appealed to me. Then one day, I said "I'll bet I have enough credits to graduate" and sure enough I did, twice, in fact. But it was fun. I'm sure it was more fun (for me anyway) than doing it straight through in four years.

Posted by: older and better | May 24, 2006 5:34 PM

#33

Congratulations to her!

As an ex-Simon's Rock student (I was 17, though), I'm a strong proponent of letting people start college when they're ready. And I didn't miss senior prom (junior prom was dull) or another year of tedium and drama one bit.

Posted by: alane | May 25, 2006 11:47 PM