17 year old to pursue master's @ MIT, no undergrad.

Master’s in Data, Economics, and Development Policy

"Fredric is a current high school student and, at seventeen, is the youngest student in the incoming class to MIT’s blended Master’s in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP). As the program has no degree prerequisites other than the completion of the MicroMasters credential in DEDP, Fredric will follow an inverted educational path by pursuing a Master’s degree before pursuing undergraduate education."

https://www.povertyactionlab.org/blog/10-9-19/learner-spotlight-combining-online-courses-classroom-learning

 

Good for him! I looked into that program when it was announced, really seems like something that would be "fun".

 

Some years ago, American InterContinental University had an M.Ed. that also permitted entry without a bachelors. I don't believe they do that any more and this was before they came to the brink of losing their accreditation. Nice to see more of these.

While we treat education as linear it doesn't necessarily need to be that way. It's still possible in a variety of situations to earn a bachelors degree without a high school diploma. There is at least one law school in New York that will at least consider you for a JD program without a bachelors. It used to be incredibly common for students to leave undergrad studies before taking a degree so they could go to medical school once they were accepted. These are not bad things, I think. And I hope we see many of these things come back and become normalized again.

 

Here's another wiz-kid story. He's 15 and just got his PhD

https://nextshark.com/wang-pok-lo-child-genius/