citizenoftheuniverse Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 So I´m in 9th grade, and mostly the people in my class are 15. I heard today that this one boy in my class, who is also 15, got accepted to university in the UK. I never even knew this was possible! He is going to be studying computer science and some math. I would be really impressed except I am just so suprised that this could even be possible. He is effectively skipping highschool and just going straight to university! I forgot to ask him what university, but he got the acceptance letter last week, and so after 9th grade is over, he is going to UNIVERSITY!!! He is pretty smart, but he isn´t leagues ahead, except in math somewhat. Its just so funny, especially since university is for adults and here the boy mainly hangs out with the 7th graders and younger kids, and he dosent look too much older than them. This makes me feel like if he can do it, many other people could too. In fact, this would probably prompt me to go to apply to university if I just knew what to study So my question is: How common is this? Do you people know of anyone else who got accepted when they were so young, not because they skipped many grades or something, they just applied early and got in? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iber2011 Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 i never heard anyone getting accepted in a university especially in uk because people have to be atleast 17 years old.....well even if he did get accepted was maybe because his grades were all A stars or something in IG's ......but this is really odd Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Generally you'd have to take your A Levels/equivalents very early in order to qualify for most courses. I don't know of any courses that don't require some form of higher qualification that isn't usually done until 17/18. Also there're some laws that I'm not very clear about involving being a minor living away from home. There's some sort of age of responsibility.That and if you're under-18 in the UK the Uni has to go out of their way to put all the people you come into contact with through a load of 'working with children' clearance and training procedures, so I think there are a lot of internal rules preventing people being under 18 simply because it means they have to comply with tonnes of legislation about child protection.So yeah that sounds a bit weird Personally I wouldn't like to go early because socially it means you're put with a more experienced set of peers - then again, some people can take it. A gap of a few years is fine, but a 15 year old might be a bit out of their depth. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrypton Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 It is certainly not common, but it is not that rare either. There are always instances of some students who take classes ahead of their years and end up at university a couple of years early. However, I don't think that people should be looking at this as the ideal, because attending university is not just an academic commitment, and people should only enter higher education when they think they are able to, or are mature enough.I'm 20 years old and I'll be entering university this autumn(hopefully! ), and I don't feel that I'm old. However, I do feel that I'm now mature enough to enter university and do much better there than I would have had I started a couple of years back. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proletariat Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 In North American, this used to occur a bit more often than it does now, although most of the time it was only maybe a year or two that was skipped; certainly a 15 year old in University would have been quite an occasion even 40 years ago (think Watson of DNA fame.) Nowadays, this rarely ever happens. Actually, I shouldn't say that; it rarely, if at all, happens in Canada, since the education system no longer promotes grade advancements and simply slots gifted students into academic programs. I'm not sure on its rarity in the States, but I would venture that it's a lot less common today than it was in the past. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizenoftheuniverse Posted September 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 For people who are interested the university he is attending is Open University. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut Butter Jelly Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 HOLY! 151,385 undergraduates? Maybe this kid has some other qualifications like IMO or something? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Ah well the Open University isn't a real University. It's basically a set of online courses you do on the internet. I did an Open University course when I was 16 - basically I paid some money, they sent me a textbook and I answered multiple choice questions online with the textbook on my lap and did no work I'm honestly scared by the fact that people get degrees from that place! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmw Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Ah well the Open University isn't a real University. It's basically a set of online courses you do on the internet. I did an Open University course when I was 16 - basically I paid some money, they sent me a textbook and I answered multiple choice questions online with the textbook on my lap and did no work I'm honestly scared by the fact that people get degrees from that place! Haha yeah I can see why degrees from these types of Universities don't hold much weight when seeking employment... OP: Are you sure he isn't just taking some additional courses online and remaining in school? Because I highly doubt he would study at such a University full time... As for the topic of kids attending uni, you hear about them everyone once in a while. I remember a year or so ago two twins went to Uni (full time) at the age of 14 or something to study math/physics. It is usually common for child prodogies (usually in mathematics, but sometimes also science) to leave school early and attend univerisity full time because they are ultimately wanting to become academics (in their chosen field) and thus, school serves no purpose in their lives However, child prodogies who do leave school early often struggle socially as they are basically detatched from society - as once the leave school, they have to social group: too advanced for children, too young for uni students. But they do often become very successful in their chosen field... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizenoftheuniverse Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 He is getting a real degree His facebook has "BSc (Hons) IT and Computing with Mathematics" in his info Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slizzie Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 The open university is an online distant learning university where people can choose to take full degree or certain credit courses. Anyone of any education or non-educational background can choose to take the courses. These can be taken full time or part time. Under 18s can be given special permissions from their schools if they believe it will benefit the student. It would be unwise of your classmate to drop out of school to study the degree course as many employers wouldn't like him to not finish school, as it wouldn't be a rounded education. I did 120 credits in music - equal to a year of uni really in my IB years so you can study it part time really easily.This was because my school didn't offer the arts subjects. The open university it different from other contact universities where the entry requirements are more lax. You don't strictly have to get certain grades to enter. They just recommend a introduction course prior to doing a full degree if you're returning or haven't done any higher education or IB/equivalent. This can be only a six week course. he isn't really going to university in the traditional sense. It's more similar to home tutoring Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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