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I applaud this family, and am glad for Ahaan's sake that he isn't just shipping himself off to college, but is going to still have his support structure. I was

I applaud this family, and am glad for Ahaan's sake that he isn't just shipping himself off to college, but is going to still have his support structure. I was homeschooled, along with my two sisters, my entire educational career until college. We all started taking college classes early, my older sister correspondence at 14, my twin and I correspondence at 15. All of us took classes at local colleges before starting 'real college'. All of us scored high on our ACTs, all of us got scholarships to college. My parents didn't really push us, we were just smart. We had childhoods, I was a starter on the basketball team, and played college soccer for a year. I also read 10+ books a week, played way, way too much Civilization and Total Annihilation, and did plenty of volunteer work, especially at our local public access station. For my sisters, going to and living at 'real college' worked out well, they both succeeded in their own ways (my older sister graduated with two masters a few days after she turned 21, my twin sister received a lot of recognition from professionals in her field before graduating, was salutatorian, etc), whereas I didn't do so well being away from home and the support structure. I'm lazy, and I thought could just not do assignments I didn't want to and do well enough on other assignments to make up for it. Long story short, my GPA dropped enough to lose my scholarship, and I decided that the private college experience wasn't worth borrowing tens of thousands of dollars for. So I moved home, finished my bachelors from the state university in town. Snagged an internship and then got a job offer from that company, essentially during my junior year for a full time job, contingent on finishing school. My point in typing up this story is not to say that I am or was awesome. My point is that I am pretty sure that Ahaan Rungta is a pretty smart kid, his parents probably pushed him less than you think, and that as long as he and his family figure out how to navigate the maturity journey, he'll be fine.

rtl49 11y ago
>My point in typing up this story is not to say that I am or was awesome. Are you sure? Being a smart fellow, you must know that your experience is not evidence that this young man was not "pushed" too much and that he will "be fine." That said, my suspicion is that Rungta's early achievement is not cause for concern about his social development. Conducting research, for instance, is an intensely collaborative experience that he will probably have, and would provide ample opportunity for interacting with people of many ages. He probably will be fine.
- russnewcomer 11y ago
  > Are you sure? Well, of course, all of us deal with pride and so part of my motivation to type up the story is that I'm proud of what I've accomplished, yeah. > Being a smart fellow, you must know that your experience is not evidence that this young man was not "pushed" too much and that he will "be fine." Of course my experience is not evidence of someone else's experience. However, I have experience being homeschooled, and entering college early, so I think I have a degree of ability to relate to Ahaan Rungta's situation that others in this thread do not. I think my contribution to the thread is to provide a counter-point to those who were decrying his parents for pushing him too hard, or depriving him of a childhood, which can only be provided by personal experience. Additionally, I think my story demonstrates the variability of how children, within the same family, respond to environmental and parental stimuli. My sisters were fine starting school early, I wasn't so much, and if I would have lived at home during my first year of college, instead of in a dorm four hours away, it would have been different.
  - rtl49 11y ago
    I won't speculate on your motives, I'd just like to point out that the story you've related simply doesn't provide a counterpoint to the idea that rapid academic advancement might lead to developmental problems or result from undue pressure. All of the accomplishments you cite could be expected of a precocious student, and could go hand in hand with adjustment issues (and seem to have done so in your case as a college student). I'm not claiming that the subject of this article should be expected to have such problems (see my other comments), only that your story doesn't serve its stated purpose.
    - russnewcomer 11y ago
      Hm. I feel that I've written poorly, because I don't understand why you're making your argument from my writing. I feel like you're just restating my argument without the personal experience. My point in writing was entirely to say that I've been through a similar journey, as have others in my family, and (while I didn't mention this originally), I have friends who have done the same thing. Thus, I have observed this situation from several different perspectives. Based on what little evidence I have from this article, Ahaan Rungta's family is taking the course of action that has the best probability of a positive outcome. However, as my own story and that of my family illustrates, some kids will do fine and others won't, coming out of essentially the same circumstances. Will Ahaan Rungta be fine? Depends on what you mean by fine. I mean that he's likely to graduate from school no more messed up than any other college student, and that his family seems to have positioned themselves to do that the best.
gozo 11y ago
With all due respect, and while you might very well be smart, your story is pretty normal. The MIT alumni I've meet (for which selection bias surely is a factor) has been quite beyond that and very much overachievers (in a positive way). That said, going to college early usually isn't a good idea. People are quite "age sensitive" in that age so you're missing out on a lot of the social stuff. Regardless how good MIT is the rest is still "only" knowledge. I can of course imagine worse things though.
- russnewcomer 11y ago
  Oh, I'm not really that smart, so really, not much respect is due. :) I agree that going to college early isn't a good idea for the peer socialization aspects. The intellectual ones, I think it's fine. But every kid is different.
mrks_ 11y ago
You have an impressive background! If I may ask, how did (do?) you manage to read 10+ books a week? Was it sheer determination, or were you a fast reader? I know that quantity of books isn't necessarily indicative of any knowledge gained; however, I would love to work through my reading list a little quicker than my current rate.
- russnewcomer 11y ago
  I don't have as much time as I used to, having a job, marriage, and child now, so I don't currently read 10+ books a week (I'm more at 2 or 3 a month now). But when I was a kid, - I usually read a book or two a week as part of school, - We typically were done with 'school' by lunchtime, and so I had a lot more free time than other kids. - I stayed up late reading quite a bit - We lived 15 minutes outside of town so I read in the car a lot (driving or in parking lots during my siblings' activities) - I read a lot of not-intellectually-demanding stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, or similar novels mixed in with more serious history. - I used to read at about 600-1200 wpm (depending on the test), which is on the higher side. It's a skill on top of natural speed, I'm now out of practice, and I top out around 500. I skim a lot on fiction, I admit. I also read chunks of words instead of individual words when I am really going, which diminishes comprehension, and so I don't do that when I am reading theology or philosophy or something I want to deeply learn.
  - meric 11y ago
    My brother is similar, he has a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf completely full of books, the books being double layered, the outer layer jutting out like he has no other space left to put his books. I find he reads more like game of thrones and historical fantasy than Star Wars or Star Trek though. He isn't married and he still reads, now on his phone.

rtl49 11y ago

>My point in typing up this story is not to say that I am or was awesome. Are you sure? Being a smart fellow, you must know that your experience is not evidence that this young man was not "pushed" too much and that he will "be fine." That said, my suspicion is that Rungta's early achievement is not cause for concern about his social development. Conducting research, for instance, is an intensely collaborative experience that he will probably have, and would provide ample opportunity for interacting with people of many ages. He probably will be fine.

russnewcomer 11y ago
> Are you sure? Well, of course, all of us deal with pride and so part of my motivation to type up the story is that I'm proud of what I've accomplished, yeah. > Being a smart fellow, you must know that your experience is not evidence that this young man was not "pushed" too much and that he will "be fine." Of course my experience is not evidence of someone else's experience. However, I have experience being homeschooled, and entering college early, so I think I have a degree of ability to relate to Ahaan Rungta's situation that others in this thread do not. I think my contribution to the thread is to provide a counter-point to those who were decrying his parents for pushing him too hard, or depriving him of a childhood, which can only be provided by personal experience. Additionally, I think my story demonstrates the variability of how children, within the same family, respond to environmental and parental stimuli. My sisters were fine starting school early, I wasn't so much, and if I would have lived at home during my first year of college, instead of in a dorm four hours away, it would have been different.
- rtl49 11y ago
  I won't speculate on your motives, I'd just like to point out that the story you've related simply doesn't provide a counterpoint to the idea that rapid academic advancement might lead to developmental problems or result from undue pressure. All of the accomplishments you cite could be expected of a precocious student, and could go hand in hand with adjustment issues (and seem to have done so in your case as a college student). I'm not claiming that the subject of this article should be expected to have such problems (see my other comments), only that your story doesn't serve its stated purpose.
  - russnewcomer 11y ago
    Hm. I feel that I've written poorly, because I don't understand why you're making your argument from my writing. I feel like you're just restating my argument without the personal experience. My point in writing was entirely to say that I've been through a similar journey, as have others in my family, and (while I didn't mention this originally), I have friends who have done the same thing. Thus, I have observed this situation from several different perspectives. Based on what little evidence I have from this article, Ahaan Rungta's family is taking the course of action that has the best probability of a positive outcome. However, as my own story and that of my family illustrates, some kids will do fine and others won't, coming out of essentially the same circumstances. Will Ahaan Rungta be fine? Depends on what you mean by fine. I mean that he's likely to graduate from school no more messed up than any other college student, and that his family seems to have positioned themselves to do that the best.

gozo 11y ago

With all due respect, and while you might very well be smart, your story is pretty normal. The MIT alumni I've meet (for which selection bias surely is a factor) has been quite beyond that and very much overachievers (in a positive way). That said, going to college early usually isn't a good idea. People are quite "age sensitive" in that age so you're missing out on a lot of the social stuff. Regardless how good MIT is the rest is still "only" knowledge. I can of course imagine worse things though.

russnewcomer 11y ago
Oh, I'm not really that smart, so really, not much respect is due. :) I agree that going to college early isn't a good idea for the peer socialization aspects. The intellectual ones, I think it's fine. But every kid is different.

mrks_ 11y ago

You have an impressive background! If I may ask, how did (do?) you manage to read 10+ books a week? Was it sheer determination, or were you a fast reader? I know that quantity of books isn't necessarily indicative of any knowledge gained; however, I would love to work through my reading list a little quicker than my current rate.

russnewcomer 11y ago
I don't have as much time as I used to, having a job, marriage, and child now, so I don't currently read 10+ books a week (I'm more at 2 or 3 a month now). But when I was a kid, - I usually read a book or two a week as part of school, - We typically were done with 'school' by lunchtime, and so I had a lot more free time than other kids. - I stayed up late reading quite a bit - We lived 15 minutes outside of town so I read in the car a lot (driving or in parking lots during my siblings' activities) - I read a lot of not-intellectually-demanding stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, or similar novels mixed in with more serious history. - I used to read at about 600-1200 wpm (depending on the test), which is on the higher side. It's a skill on top of natural speed, I'm now out of practice, and I top out around 500. I skim a lot on fiction, I admit. I also read chunks of words instead of individual words when I am really going, which diminishes comprehension, and so I don't do that when I am reading theology or philosophy or something I want to deeply learn.
- meric 11y ago
  My brother is similar, he has a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf completely full of books, the books being double layered, the outer layer jutting out like he has no other space left to put his books. I find he reads more like game of thrones and historical fantasy than Star Wars or Star Trek though. He isn't married and he still reads, now on his phone.