This post was originally published in 2015 · Jacob M Hansen

“Wait, what???” my soon-to-be classmate asked as we walked across campus during the crowded New Student Orientation.

“Yeah!”  I laughed, “I’m 16.”

“NO WAY!” she protested. “I can’t believe it!” By this point other university students were grouping around me and the girl. 

“Woah, dude, you’re only sixteen?” one guy added.    

“Do you guys want to see my drivers licence?” 

“So you must be some type of genius then,” they concluded.

Ever since I was accepted to Brigham Young University, this has been the story of my life.  First people gape at me, then a split second later they tell me I’m a genius. Every time. I have yet to get a casual, “Good for you! How are your classes?” type of response.  

During the first class of my writing course, the professor was doing introductions by playing Two Truths and a Lie.  When it got to my turn I gave some normal statements, and then just to see what would happen I slipped “I am seventeen years old” in as my lie.  I’m not exaggerating the following situation in the slightest:

“Actually, the lie is that I’m 17,” I said. Some people nodded to themselves.  “That’s because I’m 16.” 

A classwide gasp erupted around me with a volume that surprised me.  After questioning my statement, my professor gave me a let’s-all-worship-you type of bow.  Next thing I hear is the kid behind me say “We’ve got a Jimmy Neutron.” Inwardly I facepalmed.  

Yes, I am sixteen years old and attending Brigham Young University full-time, working towards a pre-law degree.  I’ve never attended a public high school either, so you could say that I “skipped it.” But I don’t like being exalted because the “genius” label I get isn’t true.  Ego-stroking, but not true.  I consider myself to be an averagely-gifted person who is fortunate enough to have found (and learned to capitalize on) his aptitudes and passions at an early age.  

Almost all teenagers can get to and benefit from college early–no problem.  The genius label only exists because so few of us actually do so. We’re too busy jumping through hoops that society has deemed “normal.”

To my fellow teens who can’t squelch the feeling that you’re wasting your life in high school, I say to skip the nonsense and do something better. 

To those of you who are satisfied with your current educational path, I encourage you to consider and explore the world of early college. There are many benefits that you won’t see until you actually study it out. 

Why Should You Care?

Education should encompass a vast portion of our teenagehood.  The exact form will differ between individuals, but a key component must be situations that cause us to stretch and grow our abilities.  What we need, is rigor. 

Rigor can come from an educational institution, from a mentor, from informal study groups, or from your own self-directed pursuits.  No place is better than any other, only better for you at a certain time.  As we grow and change, we must have the ability to adapt our educational system to fit our needs.  This means keeping our options open. All of them. One extremely valuable option that the vast majority of teenagers are discarding is college.  

My experience has shown me the following primary benefits to attending college early:  

• It’s academically hard (way hard).  College courses are more difficult and demanding than almost anything you’ll find in high school, which is good because the harder it is the more you’ll grow.
• It provides a unique environment.  One of the very first things you’ll notice about college students is how differently they act from your average high schooler.  Everywhere you look you’ll see brilliant people who possess a drive for education. The structure of college also demands discipline and personal responsibility.  (This varies between schools.)
• It gives you access to rare tools.  If you have passion for a subject, you also have the resources of exploration at your disposal.  From anywhere on campus you’re a short walk away from world-renown research labs, and some of the best, most specialized libraries and databases in the world.  You’re a conversation away from professors who have devoted their life to the subjects of your interest. Need state of the art computer software? You got it. Want professional film equipment?  No problem. A stage to premiere your new band? Done.
• It’s completely customizable.  Graduation does require that you take some required classes, but ultimately you can study whatever you want.  If you’re not out living on your own yet, you also don’t have to worry about your career, which means you have some time to follow your interests and try new things.  You also don’t have to attend full-time: you can take a college course or two to supplement whatever else you’re doing.
• It gets GE requirements out of the way.  If you’re planning on going to college anyways, going while still a teenager will allow you to complete all of the General Education courses during the time you would normally be in high school, so that when you hit your 20’s you can focus solely on what you’re passionate about.  While AP courses can accomplish this goal, you do have to worry about the educational quality measuring up.  
• It’ll give you the ”Brilliant” resume title.  Last and certainly least, if you attend college early people will go out of their way to tell you how smart you are.  This label isn’t necessarily true, but it does look good on applications and resumes.

I know that the path I took isn’t right for everyone.  Attending college early (or at all) is a highly personal decision that you’ll need to make for yourself.  That said, two factors that should not affect your decision are (1) doubt and (2) ignorance. I am attending college early, I have friends who are doing the same, and I know you can to.  

Doing so isn’t easy, but few worthwhile things are.  Consider attending college early—it might be just what your education is missing.

Look forward to articles outlining the exact process I went through to get to college and what you need to do to get to college in less than a year, and how you can go about paying for college without going into debt or begging your parents for money.