Child Prodigies: The YOUNGEST College Graduates (PHOTOS)

They have multiple degrees, Nobel Prize nominations, plum teaching positions at prestigious universities -- and all before the age of 20. They're child prodigies, and their accomplishments will blow you away (and perhaps incite you to hit the books).

Let us know if we missed one! E-mail [e-mail].

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Colin Carlson

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Carlson began reading on his own as a toddler -- by age four, he finished "Harry Potter." At nine, he began taking courses at the University of Connecticut. After graduating from Stanford University Online High School at age 11, he enrolled at UConn full-time, where he holds down a 3.9 GPA. His primary interest is studying natural ecosystems, and he is currently suing UConn for age discrimination because they will not let him participate in a course that involves field work in South Africa.

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Carlson began reading on his own as a toddler -- by age four, he finished "Harry Potter." At nine, he began taking courses at the University of Connecticut. After graduating from Stanford University Online High School at age 11, he enrolled at UConn full-time, where he holds down a 3.9 GPA. His primary interest is studying natural ecosystems, and he is currently suing UConn for age discrimination because they will not let him participate in a course that involves field work in South Africa.

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Comments

[GreyBird]

05:23 PM on 04/13/2010

Ronan Farrow is the best looking prodigy, by far
I know, I know- shallow much? !

[i Like cheese]

08:23 PM on 04/14/2010

Sufiah Yusof wins hands down.

[jessica weirdly]

01:17 AM on 04/21/2010

That's what I was thinking, too! Obviously has his mother to thank.

[Steven Meece]

10:58 PM on 04/11/2010

Everyone catches up to them eventually, then they are nobodies.

[kansasmagic]

03:59 AM on 04/05/2010

I don't see the advantage in being a prodigy. My take on the "Doogie Howser" phenomenon - who, given a choice, would *want* a 15-year-old surgeon? In many careers and research fields, success isn't a matter of simply knowing things, but having (shall we say) a steady hand. Even the brightest 15-year-old can't have 20 years of experience on their side.

Some years ago I saw a news item on a child prodigy - maybe one of these kids. He was 12, I think, at the time, and a student in a public university in the south. His major was anthropology, and he said he wanted to be a game show host when he grew up. I thought that should have been enough to remind everyone that, genius or no, he was still just a kid.

...this also reminds me of a story I saw a few years ago on the "smartest man in the world" (of course, this only meant highest measured IQ). He apparently read quite a lot, but otherwise just worked as a bouncer at a local bar.

So... yeah.

[mrsLambert]

10:48 AM on 04/04/2010

"He (Gregory Smith) zoomed through elementary school, finished course material for six grades in one year (he skipped third grade altogether). He conquered his high school curriculum in less than two years "

Can you imagine how many more "prodigies" there would be if everyone had the same opportunities as some of these kids? Does your school allow kids to skip through grades like that? Here in Alabama they don't. I have wondered if it is because the more kids in seats the more money the school gets from the gov't.

My kids were able to work at that pace, but only because I was able to homeschool them. Our local TV news wanted to be there for my oldest daughters first graduation ceremony because she was so young and had a 4.0 double major in math and chemistry. The school asked the TV news not to because they didn't want the other students to feel slighted or something.

Public schools have been holding back kids for so long that now the parents think kids will suffer somehow if they don't attend class with children their age and take 12 years to do it. My kids had friends, legos, little cars, barbies... all that. They didn't miss their childhood. They just studied different things than other kids did when it was time for school.

[Donna Muller]

11:45 AM on 04/04/2010

I agree with Mrs. Lambert. I homeschooled for 19 years, and NOT for religious reasons. (4-6 kids, depending upon whether or not my stepsons were visiting for long stretches). Son #1 went along to my college classes at night starting at age 10 and thoroughly enjoyed them, even participating; he enrolled in his own (on campus, and online for AP credit) when he was 15 and was able to knock off high school and college credits concurrently. Each child handled this in their own way.

They decided not to accelerate their educations, but to enrich them. For instance, my two youngest sons spent a college semester in Rome (and much time "couch surfing" all over Europe after finals) that didn't go towards their degrees per se, but enlarged their lives beyond all imagining. This was my goal when I decided to homeschool them: that they would all have a hunger for learning.

[rf dude]

08:36 AM on 04/04/2010

'
They were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors when other children their age were still just drooling...

[AngusC]

08:17 AM on 04/04/2010

The grim reality is that even though they are so called geniuses, at the end of the day most of them that don't lose it have relatively unremarkable careers compared to their beginnings.

Take the young Indian boy for example. At the end of the day he will be just another surgeon at the hospital, albeit younger than the others but unlikely to do anything groundbreaking.
He lost his entire childhood to do something he could have done at a later age anyway.

[Jamesb333]

09:27 AM on 04/04/2010

Yea. He could have been falling off balconies during spring break.

[Huffmeister1]

10:35 AM on 04/04/2010

I actually know one of these people personally, I won't say who, and he's a great guy. However, he can't seem to accept that he's just a regular intelligent person now and that everyone's not just going to listen to everything he says without questioning it just because he was the child prodigy. I think he's starting to catch on though.

[CrazedSurfer]

08:11 AM on 04/04/2010

And I thought I was smart.

[rclxor]

06:49 AM on 04/04/2010

"Ike.... the genius".

[joocee102]

01:03 AM on 04/04/2010

I wonder, can their being isolated from their peers cause any psychological damage?

[mrsLambert]

10:50 AM on 04/04/2010

Why would they be isolated from their peers? I imagine you mean other children their own age, because I believe the young adults at their colleges are their peers now.

I bet they still hop on their bikes and ride to friends houses. You know, just like regular kids do after school.

[c0mm0ntater]

06:17 PM on 04/03/2010

I was amazed that Alia Sabur started reading at age eight months! I checked out another source to see if it were true. According to the Drexel University web site, Sabur started talking at the age of eight months. I wonder which is correct--reading or talking at 8 months? If she started reading at 8 months old, I think that's a record. If she started talking at 8 months, I'm not impressed.

[dteg]

04:25 PM on 04/03/2010

What ever becomes of all these child prodigies. They need a where are they now segment on prodigies. The only one I have heard of as a child prodigy and later as an adult that excelled is Tiger Woods. It seems 99% live average lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHkA_983_s

[Yo Simon]

01:59 PM on 04/03/2010

Let the kids be kids! These idiot parents who either push their children to the limits, or allow their kids to be "child prodigies" are the problem. For every dougie howser md, there are many more michael jacksons, or sufiah yusof who turned to prostitution or adragon de mello who works at home depot. Kids are supposed to be playing barbie dolls, riding bikes, and going to prom, not worrying about how to save the planet through astrophysics at age 14.

[mrsLambert]

10:52 AM on 04/04/2010

Some kids are self driven.

[mrsLambert]

11:37 AM on 04/04/2010

I didn't see where Adragon is working at Home Depot, but I see that his mom put him in junir high school long after he was a college grad. WTF was/is wrong with her? Poor kid.

[FebM]

11:26 AM on 04/03/2010

Awesome! lets support the geniuses they will lead US to the promised land!

[Fbigdeal]

11:08 AM on 04/03/2010

Hey, they did not show my pic...

[sempronia]

10:21 AM on 04/03/2010

A friend of mine dated a guy who was a child prodigy -- at the time, they were both 20, but he was working on his PhD at a prestigious math program. Big surprise that she was a lot more emotionally mature than he was...

[mrsLambert]

10:53 AM on 04/04/2010

Isn't that normal for 20 year olds anyway?