Arie Tan took the Graduate Record Examination before he began his undergraduate degree at Ohio State. He scored a perfect 800 in math, 630 in verbal and 4.5 in analytical writing. He was 12.
Now 15, Arie will graduate with a molecular genetics degree June 10 with a 3.82 grade point average.
His future plans? Cure cancer.
The child-prodigy story does not end with Arie. His 12-year-old brother, Adrian, started his biomedical engineering degree at OSU in March.
"I want to get a kick-start on my career," Adrian said.
This is a sentiment shared by the brothers, who both by the time they were in second grade grew bored of elementary school.
"I was at school and that option wasn't exciting," Arie said.
At the request of their sons, parents Fabian and Angeline Tan pulled the brothers out of Ridgewood Elementary in Hilliard. They home-schooled their sons through an intense, 900-hour-per-year curriculum that included field trips to far-away places, such as the family's native Indonesia, Switzerland and across Central Europe.
"There is something about our society that is not ready to accept underage students," said Fabian, an OSU civil engineering professor. "I try to bring our kids to church and socialize."
The brothers said they do not regret skipping middle and high school.
"If I had to wait that long, it would be wasted potential," Arie said about wanting to get a jump start at college. "I know that I'm more professional and blend in better with the (college) students."
Traditional coming-of-age milestones such as getting a driver's license or going to prom are currently taking a back seat to books, the brothers said.
"I'm taking too much time studying. I feel like it will be better if I'm secure in what I'll be doing," Arie said about dating. "I wouldn't be too concerned with having a girlfriend. Only if it would be conducive for my career, I would take (a girlfriend)."
He is not concerned about getting a driver's license, either.
"There's a lot of issues of underage driving, the teenagers themselves. They have a long way to go before the control - before they are able to stay at the wheel," Arie said. "I don't think I know what I'm doing yet. I don't feel like I'm one with the car."
Despite skipping high school's awkward, yet formative years, which are usually spent exploring social boundaries, Arie said he has made friends in college.
"I was able to manage," he said. "Eventually I try to appeal to what (college kids) like to talk about: movies and course work."
The brothers said they have learned from their father to take criticism from jealous students in stride.
"My dad always told me, 'Smile and ignore," Arie said.
And as for the often-cited, cliché television reference?
"I have been called Doogie Howser," he said, "usually it's a compliment."
15. Wow. And his homeschooling probably took less time out of his life than my elementary/secondary schooling.
Estemate I spent 1195 hours in school every year, compared to this guy's listed 900. And I spent many more years doing that than he did. Yeah, I feel right stupid right about now.
Commander of the MFS Darwinian Selection Method (sexual)
Now this is what I call a child genius, just like in the good old days of young prodigies (Unlike that overhyped lawyer wannabe-chick).
Now just give me a call when he starts publishing papers .
Photography Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Those parents should start breeding like rats and create an army of super-humans
Seriously though that is very impressive. Particularely as their fluorishing in the sciences and engineering. I'd be interested to know how much was a result of their natural talent and how much was can be attributed to their parents teaching skills.
"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? "
-Abraham Lincoln
Good for them if they manage to succeed in life. It's easy at this point to paint a rosy picture for the press, but they'll be facing a lot of obstacles and challenges in life.
I know a few child prodigies in real life, and in general they seem less able to cope with the pressures and social exclusion. The former is obvious, but the latter is formidable as well. There has been considerable discussion in the graduate student government here about the fact that the 4 underage grad students here aren't allowed to enter the student bar, and on the other hand they are excluded from people of similar age by virtue of being grad students.
What people don't realise is that a lot of what we learn in our teenage years isn't just from formal education, but about growing up as a person, cliched as that might be. I think it's OK for a bright kid to be accelerated a year or two, but completely skipping secondary education is asking for trouble later on in life.
Articles, opinions and rants from an astrophysicist: Cosmic Journeys
The best memories I've had of high school have all been social/non-core classes. I barely have any idea what I'm gonna do with my life now and I'm about to start college at the normal age. How are you supposed to be able to make a wise choice about your future at 12? How are you supposed to be able to say, "In my 12 years of life, most of which has been spent being raised as a small child (at home) and being home schooled I have been able to divine what course I want to set for the rest of my life."
My software year in college we had a freshman enter at age 14. He was like a physics version of Doogie Howser if he'd NPH as Barney from How I Met Your Mother. He was a lil'pimp then and he's a lil'pimp now--only now he's friggin' loaded.
Commander of the MFS Darwinian Selection Method (sexual)
(Unlike that overhyped lawyer wannabe-chick).
.
