I was actually bumped to ninth grade math from seventh grade, so I would have been twelve.

ETA:

Should add that this carried on through high school, and since I finished my math two years early, I took college-level courses for math the last two years.

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WalterBright 15 hours ago | parent [-]

I missed 3 months of 4th grade. When I came back, the teacher told my mom that I could not continue, because I'd missed 3 months of education. I'd have to finish out the year in 3rd grade.

My mom would have none of that, and demanded I be put back in 4th grade.

And so I was, and it was like I wasn't gone for a single day. The class had not advanced at all.

This was quite unlike university, where I didn't dare miss a single lecture.

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tombert 14 hours ago | parent [-]

I think there’s a significant difference between fourth grade and high school level math, especially the more advanced courses. I got the flu in 9th grade and missed a week of trigonometry. I was able to catch up and it wasn’t the end of the world, but it wasn’t trivial, there absolutely was a “catch up” period.

Agreed university is much harder though.

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WalterBright 14 hours ago | parent [-]

You were fortunate in attending a better school.

I was an air force brat, and so attended many diverse public schools.

I took 2 years of honors physics in high school. College freshman physics blew through that in 2 weeks. And then I was in deep doo-doo.

I am eternally grateful to Prof Ricardo Gomez, who kindly took the time to coach me one on one. I never thanked him for that, one of my many regrets.

	▲	tombert 13 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I’m a good bit younger than you (not assuming, I recognize the username :), and I think they have gotten considerably better at putting more advanced kids into classes that challenge them. I grew up in Orlando which historically has pretty poorly rated schools, but I think they were active in making sure the children are put into the right courses. I also think that there’s just more granularity now. When I went to college, it was definitely tougher, but I was able to pass the freshman physics and multi variable calculus courses first time around, without significant tutoring.