College at age 11...

[Seanr]

I scored in top 2% on SATs but barely maintain a 3.6 because of the same reasons as everyone else.The only time I ever did well in High School was the year I had a girlfriend who would only have sex with me if I showed her my completed homework.

I wish I would've actually finished the SAT.. I got a 1110/1600... I went to sleep for about an hour. never retook it again.

The institution of education in it's current form in the US (I don't know about other countries...) is bullshit. But it's been too long and too far ingrained in peoples minds to try anything different. I never passed English 101 because they want you to write 5 essays that are 5 paragraphs long on bullshit topics, I don't mind the bullshit topics, but why must I fluff my essay up to 5-6 paragraphs when I can get my point across in a short and concise 2 or 3 paragraphs.
The last semester I was in college in 09... I was on the Dean's list despite having only 1 book out of my 4 classes, but I didn't have the fucking money to pay for classes.

[Cesaria]

They ended up getting an ed psych onto me when I was in primary (4-11 year olds) school as I was acting up so much. He concluded I was bored - so basically my primary school work, particularly Maths involved just getting fed the textbooks and left to work through them at my own speed... till I realised that I was being screwed over and my own reward for getting all the work finished was to get extra work on top - so I just slacked the fuck off doing the bare minimum until I left that shithole (hated primary school). Can't remember exactly what he assessed my IQ at but I know it was stupidly high.

Secondary was much better because they streamed by ability meaning I got work properly pitched at the right level, wasn't bored, was still top of the class for most shit (used to do everyone else in the class's Physics homework as a tradeoff for them doing my Latin translations - cos I fucking hated Latin translations...yes, ok I went to a school that still taught Latin) - still hated school, but wasn't bored at least. Still did fuck-all work and got through by having a photographic memory and being one of those irritating little shits who were really good at exams.

It's one thing I was shit hot on when I was teaching full-time. Nothing's got more potential to be a collossal pain in the arse in a class than a very intelligent child getting bored - stupid kids can't figure out how to really cause bother and play adults off against each other the way bright kids can.

Socially though I'd have died on my arse if I'd been moved up year groups - I just needed properly differentiated work at the right level, something primary schools back in the 1980s were shit at doing - these days they'd get hammered to fuck by inspections if they just set one worksheet for the entire class (at least over here they would), but back then things were much more laid back.

[Cesaria]

or at least basic algebra... i get what you mean. I always used to figure out algebra problems, but not the way the teacher taught us. I would fail the classwork and tests because they wanted you to show your work and explain how you got there, but I would always do the majority of them in my head just looking or staring at it.

My husband gets really fucked off when I can't just look at maths problems and know the answer immediately - it's hilarious, he'd make such a shit teacher because he's all "oh why the hell don't you just know the answer to that is 0.244364361? It just bloody is!" He can't explain how the hell he knows that (and annoyingly he's usually bloody right) - he just does.

[hey]

Good thing he was not born in socailist europe where he would be forced to attend the same class as everybody else at his age and would be marginalized for being special.

Good thing we didn't already have an entire page of people discussing how they could have been in college by 11~ too, but were held back by a bullshit school system that forced them to attend the same class as everybody else at their age and were marginalized for being special.

Children like him are not rare. What is rare is that they actually have a chance to advance like this.

[Uzor]

I had similar problems to that kid; I learned PHP by heart at the age of 12 in less than a week, and I learned c++ when I was 15. I got an excellent score on every test in every subject. I still failed the courses because I needed an attendance of 80% to pass, but my attendance rate was less than 20% as I just didn't feel like attending school since I found it pointless. I already knew what the teacher was teaching, so sitting there listening to people asking questions and having the same thing explained to them ten times was.... unbearable. Nowhere near the smarts this kid seem to have though. Sadly, he'll probably be deported after this article for being illegal ;p

Good thing he was not born in socailist europe where he would be forced to attend the same class as everybody else at his age and would be marginalized for being special.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or just stupid. I'll just assume that you're both and have never even been to Europe.

At least in Sweden we do have extra classes and the possibility to skip grades if we're deemed to be at a level above the rest. I didn't get that option, though, as I never attended school and the teachers assumed I skipped school because I was too lazy or found the coursework too difficult.

[Seanr]

*gasp* could it be that.. America is right up there with the Japanese(and other countries) in terms of geniuses produced?! But our shit school system didn't know how to accommodate them because of all these shit rules and regulations so that everyone feels special and feels like a winner. We put a crazy amount of fucking money into the military and not enough into education, look where we're going.

[Uzor]

I believe that to be true for most countries. Imagine how many geniuses get born in Africa, but never get the chance to use their smarts.

[Seanr]

They can't even speak english, how could they be geniuses

Spoiler: show

http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhan...00424464-1.jpg

Spoiler: show

http://media.moddb.com/images/member...k_coolface.jpg

[Greatguardian]

*gasp* could it be that.. America is right up there with the Japanese(and other countries) in terms of geniuses produced?! But our shit school system didn't know how to accommodate them because of all these shit rules and regulations so that everyone feels special and feels like a winner. We put a crazy amount of fucking money into the military and not enough into education, look where we're going.

Even throwing accolades onto smart people doesn't help. My schools all showered me with awards and rankings and it did nothing but embitter me towards the whole system. My parents seriously started throwing away gold medals because they ran out of space and it was clear that I did not give a shit, considering they were just thrown randomly around my desk/dresser.

I hated the attention. Everyone knows your name but for all the wrong reasons. Girls I barely knew would try to get chummy with my parents and talk about how we're such good friends, shit I couldn't even remember their names. Any girl that I was actually interested in was either intimidated by me or thought I was an attention whore. Fuck the attention, man. I pretty much stopped talking during classes if only to get people to pay less attention to me. I got sick of it. No matter what I did, or how little I spoke, people would talk about me anyways. Group project? Oh, you're so lucky you got into GG's group. Presentation or performance? Oh man, good luck going after GG. It got to the point where I would consistently try to underperform as much as possible if only to get people to leave me alone.

Yeah, I played and still play ffxi. It's a place where I can actually talk to people without my athletic/academic reputation getting in the way. It's impossible to talk to anyone normally in a school situation like that. No matter how awesome the other students think you are, you're still "different" than they are. Teachers can only seem to treat you like god's gift to education, and no matter how well-intentioned they are it's still annoying. I'd rather they just ignored me and let me blend into the crowd.

At the same time, it would be nice if the crowd was able to bloody achieve something. I don't feel like anything I was able to do in school was special at all. People are not that retarded. When I'm getting state and national level awards without working or studying a day in my life, the problem isn't with me, it's with the average. People hate education. Being smart automatically makes someone weird, especially if you're a minority. Our culture has developed in such a way that smart people are spurned as condescending know-it-alls and enemies to the common man. All popular children's media portrays school as boring and worthless, where all normal, main characters are happy to get out of it as soon as possible while only the weird, socially awkward and unattractive character enjoys it.

It's no secret that this country's political base wants a sheepish, uneducated electorate behind them. Politicians can practically run entire campaigns on how stupid they are, because being smart is so bad. They prey on people's insecurities - their fear of feeling inferior - and exacerbate those fears and insecurities to a fevered pitch.

I don't feel superior to anyone, but good luck convincing them of that.

If you want to fix this country's education system, the first thing you need to do is eliminate the idea that being smart or even above average is bad, weird, unnatural, and un-American.

Edit: On topic of the OP, if I was that kid I'd just want people to leave me the fuck alone - not write news articles about me. I've been in the paper enough times. It really just hurts more than it helps.

[Seanr]

I meant the underachievers and making them feel like they were on the same level as people who were exceptional, but I can see how your situation would get annoying.

[Greatguardian]

I meant the underachievers and making them feel like they were on the same level as people who were exceptional, but I can see how your situation would get annoying.

I know what you mean, it's just if you extrapolate that to its logical conclusion then you'd just end up with my situation. I'm just saying it's not much better even if you're the one getting all the awards.

[Lucienne]

I remember reading classes and math being especially painful already in first grade. I finished the book that was to last us the entire term within a week. I also remember how I hated when the teacher had explained something extremely simple for the third time and half of the class still didn't get it.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or just stupid. I'll just assume that you're both and have never even been to Europe.

At least in Sweden we do have extra classes and the possibility to skip grades if we're deemed to be at a level above the rest. I didn't get that option, though, as I never attended school and the teachers assumed I skipped school because I was too lazy or found the coursework too difficult.

Sorry to tell you, but Swedish school system sucks.

There is a possibility to skip one grade in elementary school if you're lucky enough to go in a mixed grade class, like f-1, 2-3. In general, the school will advise against it otherwise because there are other things considered to be important for a child's development, such as friends. After 6th grade you'll be more or less stuck. And while you used to be able to choose advanced classes in most subjects the option was removed a while back, because all children have the right to equal education. Also, in the Swedish grade less system, pupils get to pass all the way to 9th grade without having sufficient knowledge and the gaps between them are tremendous. I've seen kids in 7th grade that couldn't read properly.

At the same time, the teachers are supposed to adjust the class for each pupil on an individual level, which in a class of 25-30 kids is basically impossible. There are special classes for kids that need help, but little to nothing is done for kids with above average intelligence. It might be different in private schools though, I have no experience with that, but the public school system sucks and I could really go on forever complaining about it.

I think having been bored in school myself had made me a better teacher. I never had long sessions of explaining stuff in class. I generally just tried to divide the classes into smaller groups based on what they knew instead of following the curriculum, since half of the class will be a grade or more behind anyway. It's one of the good things with Swedish school system, the curriculum is extremely vague and focuses on abilities rather than knowledge.

For comparison, pupils in Czech Republic are given the opportunity to go to specialized elementary schools since second grade, where they need to pass IQ tests and exams upon admission.

[Osede]

For all of the haters about the school system, what i can say is that all school system in the world is fucking stupid. But Asia school system is more ridiculous when compared to any western countries. You may not imagine how a 7 years old child going from school from 7 am to 2pm, then get to tuition center from 3pm to 6pm, and from 7pm to 10pm. Almost everyday, even during the weekend. Maybe they only got it off half day during saturday.


But what I like probably just some part of the university system over here. I know ppl over my country still going for tuition class at college level, because they could not fucking learn by themselves. Had to wait someone to tell them where to copy the note and how to read from book.

[Priran]

I never got bored, I went to the library and read about shit I found interesting, then acted like a smug asshole when it came up in class a few years later like a little hipster whose favorite band just sold out. +1 for the SATs-in-grade-7 club but mine was done by Johns Hopkins.

[volcanicweather]

I'm guessing everyone here is like me and gets easily annoyed/Pissed off when those around them just generally don't know what the fuck? Like... you expect everyone to know as much as you do, and they look at you confused when you explain shit. People of all ages treat me like a damn wiki and call me with the craziest Shit because "I bet Sean knows, call him".

Story of my life, people just turn off their brains sometimes when they're around me assuming I know everything, it gets really annoying sometimes. I started college at 16 as I was just completely bored with the whole education process and wanted to be done with it as fast as possible so I could do other things with my life. Between scholarships and federal aid it was the right thing to do, I had zero debt coming out of one of the best major public universities in the country despite growing up poor. I'm just thankful my dad challenged me and broke down doors in my teenage years that weren't open to me when I was growing up instead of laying down or just accepting I take the normal and unnecessary path through the education process. Who knows where I would be if he didn't do that.

[Drakath]

Never thought I'd see so much gloating in one thread. So many child prodigies!... ... ...

[Seanr]

I wish my parents and the teachers knew what to do with me. I feel dumb as a rock sometimes when people tell me i'm smart, because I know how much I don't know in the grand scope of things... is that what enlightenment is? lol

Never thought I'd see so much gloating in one thread. So many child prodigies!... ... ...

You sound mayad

[Uzor]

I remember reading classes and math being especially painful already in first grade. I finished the book that was to last us the entire term within a week. I also remember how I hated when the teacher had explained something extremely simple for the third time and half of the class still didn't get it.


Sorry to tell you, but Swedish school system sucks.

There is a possibility to skip one grade in elementary school if you're lucky enough to go in a mixed grade class, like f-1, 2-3. In general, the school will advise against it otherwise because there are other things considered to be important for a child's development, such as friends. After 6th grade you'll be more or less stuck. And while you used to be able to choose advanced classes in most subjects the option was removed a while back, because all children have the right to equal education. Also, in the Swedish grade less system, pupils get to pass all the way to 9th grade without having sufficient knowledge and the gaps between them are tremendous. I've seen kids in 7th grade that couldn't read properly.

At the same time, the teachers are supposed to adjust the class for each pupil on an individual level, which in a class of 25-30 kids is basically impossible. There are special classes for kids that need help, but little to nothing is done for kids with above average intelligence. It might be different in private schools though, I have no experience with that, but the public school system sucks and I could really go on forever complaining about it.

I think having been bored in school myself had made me a better teacher. I never had long sessions of explaining stuff in class. I generally just tried to divide the classes into smaller groups based on what they knew instead of following the curriculum, since half of the class will be a grade or more behind anyway. It's one of the good things with Swedish school system, the curriculum is extremely vague and focuses on abilities rather than knowledge.

For comparison, pupils in Czech Republic are given the opportunity to go to specialized elementary schools since second grade, where they need to pass IQ tests and exams upon admission.

I know that the Swedish school system sucks, I didn't argue otherwise, but we still have the opportunity for specialized classes, or skipping grades if the teacher believe it to be wise. The main reason why the Swedish school system sucks, though, is because the teachers have no idea how to treat kids who require extra help. They place kids with dyslexia in the same class as people with ADHD, ADD, Aspergers, and borderline, even though all of them require help with different things, and require different kind of help.

I was arguing that what test123 said is not true - I didn't say that the Swedish school system was good.

[Julian]

I went to a private religious school in Brasil before I moved to the US. This was like... up to the end of the 3rd grade.

(fyi: The school year in Brasil is Feb-Novemberish. Rather than September-June or w/e. Goes from start-end instead of middle-middle)

So I finished the 3rd grade a week or two earlier, and came here around mid November iirc. Schools refused to let me into the 4th grade because of some bullshit cut off date policy. (I was born after September whothefuckknowswhen, so I wasn't allowed to skip. What kind of policy is that?)

Funny thing is, at least in math, I was far enough ahead that I was bored until late middle school/early high school. (Not that I stopped being bored, I mean that I actually started learning things again. My Calc teacher in HS was amazing. I wish I could have learned all that stuff a lot earlier. People only get lazier about learning the older they become. I barely got through my last few calc3/diffeq/linear algebra classes in college because I just didn't care anymore. I had more important classes that I had to learn the material for.)

They were going to start teaching long division and algebra in the 4th grade, too, I think. So sad I moved away.

[Aksannyi]

Wow, a lot of this thread seems eerily familiar. I share a lot of these same experiences with you guys.

I can learn anything you teach me, but force me to do work outside of that setting and I will fail. Nothing in school ever engaged me enough for me to want to do it outside of school. Any classes where homework was part of the grade I'd be lucky to get a C, because honestly, school sucked and I wanted nothing to do with it at home. By the time I got to college (after a six year break during which I joined the Army and had my kids), I was still so burned out from the "learning" process we teach in this country.

My kids go to school in Mexico. I've observed very little of their schooling, but it feels so much different than what we do here. Granted, if my Spanish were better, I could ask all of the questions I could possibly need the answer to. I hope that they get a better run through school than I did. I guess only time will tell, but just the sheer fact that they're not going to school here is probably the best thing for them.