(I am so glad that things have changed. In 1963, when I was labeled a "gifted student" things were not great. I took part in one of the first studies on this. Half the chosen went to live in dorms at university at 15, the rest stayed in local schools with added support. Guess which cohort succeeded? Yep not mine. University at 15 fucked me up.)
Meeting the Needs and Potentials of High-Ability, High-Performing, and Gifted Students via Differentiation.
I will say that, for me, going to college early was wonderful. I didn't relate to people my age at all, and had no close friends my own age.
I did enter a special program at USC that was interdisciplinary, and included a lot of other young people a year or two older than myself.
That part did work for me.
But not getting any support in middle and high school, while being expected to outperform my peers, was lousy.
@corlin @tyghebright Yeah, I don't think anyone could have bridged that social gap. Especially unusually bright kids like yourselves really need specialized support for their combination of maturity and intelligence IMO.
@tyghebright
Actually, I was kind of like that. I really enjoyed university while I was studying or in class. What, I could not deal with with all the social crap.
The difference socially between the average 16 year old and the average 22 year old was a chasm I could not cross.