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16-year-old genius & Mac geek going to college

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MacFanatic90

MacFanatic90

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2004
7
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Hey,

I submitted this link on Macbytes, but I wanted to also post it here in case Macbytes doesn't use it.

Check it out here

It's basically a story about this guy who is 16 and is going to be a Junior at UC Berkeley here in California this next year. He skipped 7th and 8th grade as well as 10th through 12th grade. He used to have a computer repair business called "The Apple Guy", and his dream is to work at Apple.
 
I find it amusing that there are numerous cases of mature teens moving ahead quickly and graduating a few years early, yet only a few of them are ever recognized. Of the few that are recoginized, they are called "geniuses", when the real issue is they are just more mature than the rest of their peers.
 
It is nice to see that there are geniuses out there, but there really is something to be said about the social aspects of education. Oh well, just throw him in the lab and let him develop the world's best computers. It would be better if he didn't meet anyone, then nothing would distract him. :rolleyes:

Hickman
 
I wonder if the percentage of Mac users is higher among the young genius category than in the general population?

By the way, see this ibookin' thread for one of our member's stories.
 
If he were really a genius he'd have the PowerBook hooked up to a cinema display...

j/k.

I skipped grades, too. I know quite a few who have. I don't see how that is a really big deal.
 
I skipped the first grade.

I think that going to college at a young age is a sign of brilliance, but I wouldn't do it if I had the chance. Even if I had skipped so many grades, I'd lounge around, freeload for a bit.

People who have such a desire to "learn" and "achieve" confuse me.
 
i think skipping grades is bad because you don't learn common sence stuff with your friends...... and your friends aren't around the same age as you....in his case, their over 18 (college) while he is still a minor.... must be hard to make friends
 
puckhead193 said:
i think skipping grades is bad because you don't learn common sence stuff with your friends...... and your friends aren't around the same age as you....in his case, their over 18 (college) while he is still a minor.... must be hard to make friends
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If I didn't skip a grade, I wouldn't've met all the people I know now...

I'm glad I skipped. Then again, who knows. Maybe I would've been happier if I hadn't skipped.
 
ham_man said:
Wow. Way to enjoy your childhood...
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my thoughts exactly. I live life by my phrase (not mine but still you get it :p) "Carpe Diem" And i will never stray from that. I would want to have fun go out and do things and not just sit and study and skip grades all the time.

I will end up where i want to go any way possible, and if it takes its time oh well.
 
eva01 said:
my thoughts exactly. I live life by my phrase (not mine but still you get it :p) "Carpe Diem" And i will never stray from that. I would want to have fun go out and do things and not just sit and study and skip grades all the time.

I will end up where i want to go any way possible, and if it takes its time oh well.
Click to expand...
"Seize the Day" is pretty good, all around advice and a good phrase. Interestingly, a good percentage of genius levels who've skipped over several grade levels find like this young man, there's also something to emotional intelligence and social development which carry their particular challenges. "I'll probably fit in well at least academically, but socially I do worry," he said. "I'm not sure I'll be accepted. My roommate, for instance, is 20 years old. And dating might be hard because of the age differential." [Scott Goodson]
 
I'm like this kid in one particular way:
Computers had overrun Scott's Oceanside home. Seven hundred computers filled the living room, family room, bedroom, study, garage and hallways. Keyboards, monitors and printers covered almost every surface.
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OK, so I don't have that many computers cluttering up the house, but I did have 11 Macs running in the house (and more of them not running) at one point. Perhaps I'll get into Berkeley too.
 
ham_man said:
Wow. Way to enjoy your childhood...
Click to expand...

There's nothing enjoyable about sitting through year after year of school when you're so far ahead of the rest of your class academically. Imagine spending a year in an algebra 1 class when you already understand advanced calculus. Just because you skip ahead a few years doesn't necessarily mean you can't have friends your own age, nor does it mean you're some kind of over-achieving robo-kid with no interest in a social life.

When a freshman basketball player gets onto the varsity team, we don't pity him for missing out on the joys of playing junior-varsity.
 
Doctor Q said:
I wonder if the percentage of Mac users is higher among the young genius category than in the general population?

By the way, see this ibookin' thread for one of our member's stories.
Click to expand...
I'll say this much: he'll fit in fine from a computing standpoint. There is a ton of Mac users in Berkeley, and Macs are supported as well as PCs on campus for the most part.
 
Flowbee said:
There's nothing enjoyable about sitting through year after year of school when you're so far ahead of the rest of your class academically.
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True, but with one exception: when you need some occasional filler.

Funny story: As a college freshman computer science student, I skipped the beginning programming course because I already had more than enough experience programming. I started in the advanced programming course instead. However, 3 years later, I ended up low on C.S. units for having skipped courses. My advisor had the solution: take the beginning computer science course along with the much harder upper division courses I was finishing my degree with. So one of my last computer science courses was the beginning programming course, which of course was hilariously easy by that point! I helped other students to make it interesting.
 
MacFanatic90 said:
I submitted this link on Macbytes, but I wanted to also post it here in case Macbytes doesn't use it.
Click to expand...


Fair enough, but MacBytes did end up posting it. :)

I can't even imagine what uni would be like if I was a youngster. I've always been a bit on the old side of my year and I can't imagine having it any other way. It's not that I ever repeated, it's just that school years here are determined at July and I'm an August baby.
 
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