11 ms·

This kid is awesome but this particular comment really made me sad: "Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades.

This kid is awesome but this particular comment really made me sad: "Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades. My counselor told me that I wouldn't get into the top colleges because of this reason. I believed her and didn't apply to my dream colleges."

50CNT 10y ago
On the other hand he mentions that he might apply to other colleges in his junior year, with various recommendations from MIT, UC Berkley and UC Santa Cruz. So not all is lost.
themartorana 10y ago
Can't imagine a college that wouldn't jump at the opportunity now. Might be a solid first lesson on the real world - people that don't understand will be naysayers, and those that do will marvel at your work.
up_and_up 10y ago
Maybe he should just take a year off? Keep working on this or other cool projects and apply next year. Might be worth it if he lands a serious scholarship from an elite school. Speaking from experience, taking a gap year was the best decision I ever made.
- Kinnard 10y ago
  Same here: he could do a killer program like this(which I did) and apply when he gets back: https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/ https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/
  - RockyMcNuts 10y ago
    looks a bit more like 'where there be cash... to take kids on guided tours of exotic locales' :)
vinceguidry 10y ago
Well, you can look at it this way, he would have never been well-served by the traditional society-determined path anyway. A project like this has the tendency to just blow away all other considerations. If you were hiring for a physics position, would you take the guy who got straight A's on his physics coursework, or the guy who built an effing nuclear reactor in his bedroom?
- nickff 10y ago
  The sad thing is that if you were faculty, looking for a graduate student to supervise, you'd probably pick the one with straight A's and no hobbies, because you could get them to do whatever you wanted, without risk of them getting their own ideas or leaving.
  - vinceguidry 10y ago
    Like I said, he never would have been served by the traditional path. With that kind of talent and drive, you don't need the academy, the academy needs you. They'll find a spot for him.
  - delazeur 10y ago
    That's probably not true. I have run into very few faculty who want to have robots working for them, and I know quite a few faculty who are suspicious of perfect transcripts from potential grad students because it often means they avoided difficult courses or outside projects.
    - wallace_f 10y ago
      >quite a few faculty who are suspicious of perfect transcripts In an undergrad department meeting, the topic was brought up on "why your parents should not call or arrive at the school seeking to talk to professors about their student's grades." It's an open secret at some schools, Harvard being one of the most famous, that if you're rich or well-connected enough, you get in and coast with a B average, with relative ease--a C average at the worst.
  - 10y ago
adrenalinelol 10y ago
Something similar happened to me, I managed to end up somewhere close to what I wanted to be doing, but had I gone the "traditional" route it'd have been much easier with the same result.
- charlesdm 10y ago
  But not as much fun? :-)
nlh 10y ago
And at least from my experience, that is wrong wrong wrong. I was a solidly B student in high school, but I had some extracurriculars (not quite building fusion reactors) that I devoted an absurd amount of time to and excelled at. And I got into MIT.
- swampthinker 10y ago
  If you don't mind me asking, how long ago was this?
  - AckSyn 10y ago
    Not op, but for me getting into MIT was fall of 1997.
    - swampthinker 10y ago
      Yeah, I ask because the highschool workload and expectations have frankly changed. Being a solid B student doesn't get you into MIT (at least, that's what is drilled into your head)
      - akhilcacharya 10y ago
        Honestly, there are bunches of people with really impressive EC's that also have top GPAs and 99th+ percentile SAT's.
        mgkimsal 10y ago
        There can't be THAT many. Unless my math is wrong, they can only be at most 1% of the folks taking the SATs, right?
        zardeh 10y ago
        1,700,000 SAT takers -> 17,000 people in the top 1%. Selecting the top 10% of those gets you 1700 students, which is quite close to the size of Harvard's acceptance statistic (of 2000)
akhilcacharya 10y ago
Is there something lesser about going to a state school? I didn't build a Farnsworth Fusor in high school but my school is ranked about the same as UCSC, hah.
- Godel_unicode 10y ago
  Yes, pay. Note that the "public" schools on this list are service academys. http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors
  - akhilcacharya 10y ago
    But don't people say that "school doesn't matter" for Engineering? I agree it does matter - that's just the argument that's used.
plandis 10y ago
This is pretty typical of guidance councilors at my high school as well. I went to a fairly poor public school and we were advised not to apply to extra colleges because we probably wouldn't get in and considering most of the student body lived around the poverty line the costs of applying to a bunch of colleges gets expensive fast.
meddlepal 10y ago
Seems like he should have absolutely no problem transferring wherever he wants after this.
lsllc 10y ago
That comment is why I submitted this. Shame on that counselor for saying that, they should have been encouraging him to go for his dream! Building a fusion reactor should get this kid an invite to somewhere like MIT (as Ahmed Mohamed did for the clock incident last year).
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
midnightclubbed 10y ago
In slight defense of the counselor, lots of kids have outside interests and projects that cause them to lose focus on their studies and not obtain the grades they were capable of. Very very few of them have the skills and sheer determination to actually deliver. Shame on the councellor for not seeing the finished project in senior year and pushing to get this kid some more opportunities (not that UCSB is a bad school by any measure).
CalRobert 10y ago
They probably saved themslves years of ridiculous BS, poor instruction, and a mountain of debt. Good for them.
dookahku 10y ago
Same thing happened to me. I almost dropped out of HS because I got admitted to college early. I was administered a 'residual' ACT and was admitted. The counselor told me people wouldn't want to hire me if I didn't have a diploma or a college degree if things didn't work out. I honestly believe the counselor was looking out for me and wasn't incompetent, but christ I wish I hadn't listened to him.
nolok 10y ago
Well, you need the second part of that comment to get the complete picture though: > After submitting my college applications, I began making more connections. When I apply to other colleges as a junior, I will be getting likely 5+ recommendations from various chairs and professors at MIT, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz.
teamfrizz 10y ago
If someone reading this went to MIT and can contact admissions, they should link them to this story. Surely there are a few MIT alums on HN? Get this kid into his dream school! Or maybe he mentions another school in the AMA?

50CNT 10y ago

On the other hand he mentions that he might apply to other colleges in his junior year, with various recommendations from MIT, UC Berkley and UC Santa Cruz. So not all is lost.

themartorana 10y ago

Can't imagine a college that wouldn't jump at the opportunity now. Might be a solid first lesson on the real world - people that don't understand will be naysayers, and those that do will marvel at your work.

up_and_up 10y ago

Maybe he should just take a year off? Keep working on this or other cool projects and apply next year. Might be worth it if he lands a serious scholarship from an elite school. Speaking from experience, taking a gap year was the best decision I ever made.

Kinnard 10y ago
Same here: he could do a killer program like this(which I did) and apply when he gets back: https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/ https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/
- RockyMcNuts 10y ago
  looks a bit more like 'where there be cash... to take kids on guided tours of exotic locales' :)

vinceguidry 10y ago

Well, you can look at it this way, he would have never been well-served by the traditional society-determined path anyway. A project like this has the tendency to just blow away all other considerations. If you were hiring for a physics position, would you take the guy who got straight A's on his physics coursework, or the guy who built an effing nuclear reactor in his bedroom?

nickff 10y ago
The sad thing is that if you were faculty, looking for a graduate student to supervise, you'd probably pick the one with straight A's and no hobbies, because you could get them to do whatever you wanted, without risk of them getting their own ideas or leaving.
- vinceguidry 10y ago
  Like I said, he never would have been served by the traditional path. With that kind of talent and drive, you don't need the academy, the academy needs you. They'll find a spot for him.
- delazeur 10y ago
  That's probably not true. I have run into very few faculty who want to have robots working for them, and I know quite a few faculty who are suspicious of perfect transcripts from potential grad students because it often means they avoided difficult courses or outside projects.
  - wallace_f 10y ago
    >quite a few faculty who are suspicious of perfect transcripts In an undergrad department meeting, the topic was brought up on "why your parents should not call or arrive at the school seeking to talk to professors about their student's grades." It's an open secret at some schools, Harvard being one of the most famous, that if you're rich or well-connected enough, you get in and coast with a B average, with relative ease--a C average at the worst.
- 10y ago

adrenalinelol 10y ago

Something similar happened to me, I managed to end up somewhere close to what I wanted to be doing, but had I gone the "traditional" route it'd have been much easier with the same result.

charlesdm 10y ago
But not as much fun? :-)

nlh 10y ago

And at least from my experience, that is wrong wrong wrong. I was a solidly B student in high school, but I had some extracurriculars (not quite building fusion reactors) that I devoted an absurd amount of time to and excelled at. And I got into MIT.

swampthinker 10y ago
If you don't mind me asking, how long ago was this?
- AckSyn 10y ago
  Not op, but for me getting into MIT was fall of 1997.
  - swampthinker 10y ago
    Yeah, I ask because the highschool workload and expectations have frankly changed. Being a solid B student doesn't get you into MIT (at least, that's what is drilled into your head)
    - akhilcacharya 10y ago
      Honestly, there are bunches of people with really impressive EC's that also have top GPAs and 99th+ percentile SAT's.
      - mgkimsal 10y ago
        There can't be THAT many. Unless my math is wrong, they can only be at most 1% of the folks taking the SATs, right?
        zardeh 10y ago
        1,700,000 SAT takers -> 17,000 people in the top 1%. Selecting the top 10% of those gets you 1700 students, which is quite close to the size of Harvard's acceptance statistic (of 2000)

akhilcacharya 10y ago

Is there something lesser about going to a state school? I didn't build a Farnsworth Fusor in high school but my school is ranked about the same as UCSC, hah.

Godel_unicode 10y ago
Yes, pay. Note that the "public" schools on this list are service academys. http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors
- akhilcacharya 10y ago
  But don't people say that "school doesn't matter" for Engineering? I agree it does matter - that's just the argument that's used.

plandis 10y ago

This is pretty typical of guidance councilors at my high school as well. I went to a fairly poor public school and we were advised not to apply to extra colleges because we probably wouldn't get in and considering most of the student body lived around the poverty line the costs of applying to a bunch of colleges gets expensive fast.

meddlepal 10y ago

Seems like he should have absolutely no problem transferring wherever he wants after this.

lsllc 10y ago

That comment is why I submitted this. Shame on that counselor for saying that, they should have been encouraging him to go for his dream! Building a fusion reactor should get this kid an invite to somewhere like MIT (as Ahmed Mohamed did for the clock incident last year).

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

midnightclubbed 10y ago

In slight defense of the counselor, lots of kids have outside interests and projects that cause them to lose focus on their studies and not obtain the grades they were capable of. Very very few of them have the skills and sheer determination to actually deliver. Shame on the councellor for not seeing the finished project in senior year and pushing to get this kid some more opportunities (not that UCSB is a bad school by any measure).

CalRobert 10y ago

They probably saved themslves years of ridiculous BS, poor instruction, and a mountain of debt. Good for them.

dookahku 10y ago

Same thing happened to me. I almost dropped out of HS because I got admitted to college early. I was administered a 'residual' ACT and was admitted. The counselor told me people wouldn't want to hire me if I didn't have a diploma or a college degree if things didn't work out. I honestly believe the counselor was looking out for me and wasn't incompetent, but christ I wish I hadn't listened to him.

nolok 10y ago

Well, you need the second part of that comment to get the complete picture though: > After submitting my college applications, I began making more connections. When I apply to other colleges as a junior, I will be getting likely 5+ recommendations from various chairs and professors at MIT, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz.

teamfrizz 10y ago

If someone reading this went to MIT and can contact admissions, they should link them to this story. Surely there are a few MIT alums on HN? Get this kid into his dream school! Or maybe he mentions another school in the AMA?