Anonymous wrote:Have I ever been the recipient of a dumb comment? Sure. Unfortunately, I'm sure I've also made my fair share of dumb comments. Don't waste any time thinking about the comment.

I used to get all worked up about stupid comments people make and then it occurred to me that I too make stupid comments all the time.

We all have opinions and biases and sometimes our filter doesn’t work as well as it should.

I went through MCPS when the cutoff was still Jan 1 and had an October birthday, so I started college at 17 as did a number of my friends. It made no difference. This is how it used to be everywhere, and I'm 35 so not THAT long ago.

I don't remember needing a parent co-signer to open my bank account and credit card there; I think we used a combination of my home joint account plus a Visa Buxx card plus a wad of cash for a few weeks until I turned 18 and then went in and opened my own account. It wasn't a problem.

Coastal Carolina is a supportive school. Just ignore the comment. Starting at 17 is fine, plenty of people have done it successfully.

That's just weird. Why would one waste a whole year? It's not like K, where they aren't developmentally ready if they are too young. A gap year just makes it more likely your kid will skip college entirely. I've never heard of this as a thing for younger kids to do as a matter of course - it was always a euphemism for a kid not being able to cut it at college.

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from high school at 17 and turned 18 the following September while a freshman at Coastal Carolina. Had an amazing experience; great professors and made some wonderful friends. Graduated in 3.5 years; Dean’s List several semesters and now is a CPA with a great career at a Big 4 accounting firm. Good luck to your DC. CCU was great for my DD.

Thank you. We are excited for him. The campus is beautiful.

One of our kids started college at barely 18 (by days). It was fine. Don't hold your kid back! Let him go. Parents in the age of redshirting haven't calculated the back end of having 20-year-old college freshman. They are startled to see a kid who started kindergarten on time, and with a late summer birthday.

Your kid is used to being the youngest in class by now. He knows what to do. He'll be fine.

Mine made the dean's list from first semester on and is slaying all day. Yours will, too. It's what the youngest in the class does. They keep up, then they exceed their peers.

Congratulations on not listening to the redshirting propaganda.

If it turns out that DC wants to be older in college, DC can take a year away for an externship or an adventure, or stick around for a masters degree.

It was phrased tactlessly but the gap year idea isn't bad to consider. I went to college very young and likely would have benefited from a gap year.

My DD graduated from high school at 17 and turned 18 the following September while a freshman at Coastal Carolina. Had an amazing experience; great professors and made some wonderful friends. Graduated in 3.5 years; Dean’s List several semesters and now is a CPA with a great career at a Big 4 accounting firm. Good luck to your DC. CCU was great for my DD.