Caroline Cannistra talks about her experience starting college early at the age of 13. In addition to talking about her failures and successes, she offers sound advice to students who endeavor to pursue a higher education at a very young age. Gifted children often lead double lives. Intellectually, they may seem like small, eccentric adults, and they may prefer the company of adults, but in many ways they are still children. For this reason, many gifted education experts have doubts about letting gifted students start college several years early. In this talk, you will hear about Caroline’s experience entering a college environment at age 13. You’ll hear about her successes and failures, the way she interacts with the professional and academic world, and what she is learning now as an Adult.
Caroline is an alum of the University of Washington’s Early Entrance Program, which is designed to prepare and guide young students through college. She started her preparatory year at age 13 and officially became a college student at age 14, eventually graduating with degrees in bioengineering and applied mathematics at age 19. She specializes in biological modeling and software design. She has done research through the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle.
Below are some of the schools that offer Early College Entrance Programs. For additional information on the schools, go to the IEA Gifted Resource Center.
Arizona State University Herberger Young Scholars Academy
Bard High School Early Colleges
Cal State – Los Angeles Early Entrance Program
Early Honors Dual Credit Program at Alaska Pacific University
Fullerton College Special Admit and Concurrent Enrollment
Mary Baldwin University Early College
Southeastern Louisiana University Youth Programs
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
University of Iowa Bucksbaum Early Entrance Academy
University of Washington Robinson Center for Young Scholars