Should child prodigies go to University?

This question was asked in a search by a visitor to my site today. It is important to know that their ISP was for an American University, so it is probable that the searcher is an academic or administrator of some kind who is wrestling with the question of whether or not to admit a particular child prodigy as a student.

My first reaction to their question, is why do they ask it? Many people, when confronted with a child prodigy, ask whether they are likely to be socially well-adjusted and my reply to them would be that there is no more reason to suppose they will be maladjusted than anyone else. The reason I say this is that being a prodigy, does not mean that one will have any particular social problem. Prodigy is not Asperger's - and only a very small minority of prodigies would be the autism scale. Most prodigies will be normal in their social development, eventually, even if they are advanced intellectually. It is that latter fact that may make a difference. You see, the prodigy is likely to "click" with those who are older than themselves and smarter than average.

So, I would say that far from being a misfit at University - as was the implicit worry of the University searcher above - that the prodigy is more likely to fit in at University (if they are a true prodigy and show adult level mental development, as a child, in their domain) than they are to fit in at primary/elementary school, or middle school or wherever their age would determine that they should be.

The child prodigy will only feel at home where they feel that they are among INTELLECTUAL peers - for that is what they will measure others against: their question being - "Do these people understand me?" The answer will be 'yes' only among their intellectual matches - smart adults.

So, do not hinder a child prodigy's progress to University, but enable it, for it is likely that only in such an environment will they finally feel at home.

There is one more point to add: if a child has mastered all the school level curriculum in their field, they cannot simply stop learning, but must go on to University to continue their development. To prevent them from doing so on the basis of age would be a grave error.

I hope the reader who searched for this question sees this, and, if making the decision, allows the child prodigy a place at their University.

(If you would like to read about my three gifted children including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two months, and his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, twelve months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, intelligence, IQ, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)