Minnesota Family Wasn’t Prepared To Pay For Their Son’s Amazing Gift
The television show Young Sheldon chronicles the life of an incredibly smart 9-year-old who skips grades and enters high school. CBS says the half-hour comedy "allows us the chance to meet him in childhood, as he embarks on his innocent, awkward, and hopeful journey toward the man he will become."
A similar story has been playing out here in Minnesota. Elliot Tanner started high-school at 7 and began college at 9-years-old. The Minnesota boy is now 13 and getting ready to graduate from the University of Minnesota. His parents say this wasn't part of the plan and they were not prepared (financially) to raise a genius.
His parents told KSTP they weren't prepared for Elliot's gifted mind. “You don’t think you’re going to have to pay for college for a 9-year-old, let alone grad school for a 13-year-old. So we weren’t prepared for that part. We’re kind of scrambling trying to figure out his tuition.”
The family started a Go Fund Me page to help cover the cost of Elliot's schooling.
We can't stress enough that we are incredibly grateful to the University of Minnesota for accepting him into the program! We were shocked to discover the university did not extend a financial package to Elliott. Only 3% of incoming physics Ph.D. students in the U.S. do not receive a tuition waiver and/or financial package, so we never imagined that we would be scrambling to fund Elliott’s education at 13 years old.
Elliot Tanner loves playing games with his friends. His favorite is Dungeons and Dragons. His mom says he's a normal kid that does normal kid things - The only difference is where he goes to school.
KMSP says a 13 year-old is a fourth year physics major with a math minor and wants to be a physics professor at the University of Minnesota. Elliott has been accepted to the University of Minnesota's physics Ph.D program.
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