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12-Year-Old Boy Genius Is A Freshman At Cornell
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 3, 2016
Modified Sep 3, 2016
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 3, 2016
Modified Sep 3, 2016
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Though 12-year-olds already seem more technologically advanced thanks to their admirable Snapchat skills, one tween seems to have risen above the fray—he's enrolled at Cornell University for his freshman year.
Jeremy Shuler, 12, has earned the distinction of being the youngest person ever to attend Cornell, having earned his spot at a school that did not accept me, thanks to his very high SAT and advanced placement scores in math and science. Jeremy, who grew up in Texas, was homeschooled by his aerospace engineer parents, which explains some of his mathematical prowess. "We were concerned about him socializing with other kids,” his mother, Harrey Shuler, told the Associated Press. "At the playground he was freaked out by other kids running around screaming. But when we took him to Math Circle and math camp, he was very social. He needed someone with similar interests."
As a toddler, Jeremy mastered English and Korean, and could read. When he was five, he read both "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Great Theorems of Mathematics." He taught himself chemistry before he was 10, and finished a high school curriculum by the time he was 11. In the spring, Jeremy graduated with a high school diploma from Texas Tech University; now, he and his parents have moved to Ithaca so he can attend school without being subjected to dorm life. "I wanted to make sure he had a nice, safe environment in terms of growing up," Cornell Engineering Dean Lance Collins told reporters.
Anyway, now Jeremy's in college, without being able to enjoy all the actual fun parts of college. Still, he's making friends: "As Mommy said, all the kids in math camp were older than me, so I’m used to having older friends. As long as they like math."
Being a boy genius seems lonely, but at least there's a pretty big payoff.
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jeremy shuler
Rebecca Fishbein
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