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Idk, the cynic in me wonders what he actually had to do. Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. 5 degrees should not be possible imo. No

Idk, the cynic in me wonders what he actually had to do. Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. 5 degrees should not be possible imo. Not because you can’t master 5 subjects but because you shouldn’t have time to do 5 classes worth of work. It feels manufactured. Talking about the kid doing archery and going to 23 countries makes me feel this even more.

firecall 3y ago
He probably did Archery once during the summer... It's all padding. No one has the time to do any of that with any level of competency!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ummonk 3y ago
Appears to be a feeder community college so reasonably challenging courses. There's probably a fair bit of overlap between courses for the associate's degrees, and he probably just likes studying a ton.
mberning 3y ago
When I was just out of school a couple years my boss quit and the company I worked for decided it would be good for me to manage a team of 5 developers. At the time I thought I did an OK job, but in retrospect I realize that there was no way for me to be good at managing people in their 30’s 40’s and 50’s. What did I know about being married, having a spouse, having kids, having to take care of sick people, having a home to maintain, etc. I knew nothing. That’s where I feel this kid is now. Lots of accomplishments on paper. Now go live and get experience to put it to use.
- DoesntMatter22 3y ago
  I think that's true for most degrees. You don't really leave college prepared for much. What mostly matters is real world experience. This is an extreme analogy but there is a huge difference between reading about war and fighting in one
drewcoo 3y ago
> 5 degrees should not be possible imo. They're associate's degrees from Fullerton, a community college. > It feels manufactured. It sounds more "enabled" to me. I'm jealous. I wish I had been able to take community college classes with a little more depth instead of boring junior high.
zerocrates 3y ago
The college has a story of their own that gives a little more detail: he was there 3 years, and got 5 degrees: all associate of arts, in history, social sciences, social behavior and self-development, arts and human expression, and science and mathematics. I assume part of the trick here is that there's substantial overlap in the requirements for each degree: all of those but history are actually interdisciplinary studies degrees, each with a different "emphasis." Not to put down a 9-to-12-year-old taking community college classes, obviously that's impressive in its own right. It's just that there's probably a little bit of a gimmick involved.
lisasays 3y ago
Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. Not in any meaningful, reality-based sense. If the place is legitimately accredited, there are always some significant requirements well beyond the description of "basically nothing".
jltsiren 3y ago
I'm not familiar with American community colleges, but the more cost-effective forms of higher education tend to focus more on exams than classes. The education is based more on demonstrating what you have learned than on highly structured study. If I got the details right, he completed 10 years of studies in 3 years. That's impressive, especially for someone so young, but not unreasonable. Back when I was an undergrad in Finland, we had an informal definition for a high achieving student: 100 old credit units in a year, or 2.5x the nominal pace, with good grades. I knew a few people who did that at least once, and there was a newspaper story of someone who had apparently done it 7 years in a row.
opmelogy 3y ago
> Idk, the cynic in me wonders what he actually had to do. Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. I'm trying to remember any college course I took out of the three degrees I have (and extra college courses outside of that) that didn't require a lot of work. I'm not sure where you are coming up with this idea that it's not a lot of work and that it's okay to downplay someone's drive and abilities. Maybe it'd be more useful for you to do some internal reflection instead of dumping this garbage out on everyone here.
- loeg 3y ago
  Something about the situation doesn't add up. The kid hasn't had time to do five "a lot of work" degrees worth of classwork; something's got to give. This is a 12-year old, not a 22-year old.
- fauxpause_ 3y ago
  That’s literally a point I made in reverse. It’s too much work. For a good, real degree. This is not the story of a boy genius thriving on raw intelligence. I suspect this is a story of his parents manufacturing a story by figuring out how to get these degrees with the minimal possible effort. Nobody gets 5 degrees in unrelated things out of personal interest. Especially not at 12. Normal interested people may take additional classes in other areas, but you don’t get 5 degrees unless you optimize for getting 5 degrees. Again, purely based on time. The kid also had to be homeschool for normal school stuff the entire time. I say because I got annoyed and dug up additional info.

firecall 3y ago

He probably did Archery once during the summer... It's all padding. No one has the time to do any of that with any level of competency!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ummonk 3y ago

Appears to be a feeder community college so reasonably challenging courses. There's probably a fair bit of overlap between courses for the associate's degrees, and he probably just likes studying a ton.

mberning 3y ago

When I was just out of school a couple years my boss quit and the company I worked for decided it would be good for me to manage a team of 5 developers. At the time I thought I did an OK job, but in retrospect I realize that there was no way for me to be good at managing people in their 30’s 40’s and 50’s. What did I know about being married, having a spouse, having kids, having to take care of sick people, having a home to maintain, etc. I knew nothing. That’s where I feel this kid is now. Lots of accomplishments on paper. Now go live and get experience to put it to use.

DoesntMatter22 3y ago
I think that's true for most degrees. You don't really leave college prepared for much. What mostly matters is real world experience. This is an extreme analogy but there is a huge difference between reading about war and fighting in one

drewcoo 3y ago

> 5 degrees should not be possible imo. They're associate's degrees from Fullerton, a community college. > It feels manufactured. It sounds more "enabled" to me. I'm jealous. I wish I had been able to take community college classes with a little more depth instead of boring junior high.

zerocrates 3y ago

The college has a story of their own that gives a little more detail: he was there 3 years, and got 5 degrees: all associate of arts, in history, social sciences, social behavior and self-development, arts and human expression, and science and mathematics. I assume part of the trick here is that there's substantial overlap in the requirements for each degree: all of those but history are actually interdisciplinary studies degrees, each with a different "emphasis." Not to put down a 9-to-12-year-old taking community college classes, obviously that's impressive in its own right. It's just that there's probably a little bit of a gimmick involved.

lisasays 3y ago

Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. Not in any meaningful, reality-based sense. If the place is legitimately accredited, there are always some significant requirements well beyond the description of "basically nothing".

jltsiren 3y ago

I'm not familiar with American community colleges, but the more cost-effective forms of higher education tend to focus more on exams than classes. The education is based more on demonstrating what you have learned than on highly structured study. If I got the details right, he completed 10 years of studies in 3 years. That's impressive, especially for someone so young, but not unreasonable. Back when I was an undergrad in Finland, we had an informal definition for a high achieving student: 100 old credit units in a year, or 2.5x the nominal pace, with good grades. I knew a few people who did that at least once, and there was a newspaper story of someone who had apparently done it 7 years in a row.

opmelogy 3y ago

> Idk, the cynic in me wonders what he actually had to do. Because for a lot of degrees the answer is basically nothing. I'm trying to remember any college course I took out of the three degrees I have (and extra college courses outside of that) that didn't require a lot of work. I'm not sure where you are coming up with this idea that it's not a lot of work and that it's okay to downplay someone's drive and abilities. Maybe it'd be more useful for you to do some internal reflection instead of dumping this garbage out on everyone here.

loeg 3y ago
Something about the situation doesn't add up. The kid hasn't had time to do five "a lot of work" degrees worth of classwork; something's got to give. This is a 12-year old, not a 22-year old.
fauxpause_ 3y ago
That’s literally a point I made in reverse. It’s too much work. For a good, real degree. This is not the story of a boy genius thriving on raw intelligence. I suspect this is a story of his parents manufacturing a story by figuring out how to get these degrees with the minimal possible effort. Nobody gets 5 degrees in unrelated things out of personal interest. Especially not at 12. Normal interested people may take additional classes in other areas, but you don’t get 5 degrees unless you optimize for getting 5 degrees. Again, purely based on time. The kid also had to be homeschool for normal school stuff the entire time. I say because I got annoyed and dug up additional info.