Nick Reynolds

nreynolds@ithacajournal.com | @IJCityWatch

If he finishes school on time, he could be the youngest Cornell University graduate ever.

Jeremy Shuler, the 12-year-old son of two aerospace engineers, will be heading to Ithaca this fall by way of Lubbock, Texas, as a member of the class of 2020. He will major in engineering, the same degree his father and Lockheed Martin employee Andy did when he attended Cornell in the 1980s. If he finishes on time, Jeremy could be the only 16-year-old to ever finish a degree on time according to Cornell historian, Corey Ryan Earle.

Though he would not be the youngest college student ever, (Michael Kearney, a child prodigy, graduated from the University of South Alabama at the age of 10; Bard College’s Ronan Farrow entered school at the age of 11, and attorney and Stony Brook alumna Alia Sabur entered school at age 10) Jeremy would still have a leg up on Cornell’s youngest graduates, several of who graduated at the age of 18.

His mother, Harrey, who has her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas-Austin, homeschooled Jeremy and assisted him in his studies. By age 11, Jeremy had completed all of his high school courses and enrolled at Texas Tech University Independent School District, which allows students in K-12 to complete high school at their own pace.

Jeremy's intelligence was apparent early. At age 10, he placed in the 99.6 percentile for all college-bound seniors that year and aced seven AP exams, receiving college credit in calculus, chemistry, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, statistics, microeconomics and macroeconomics.

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Cornell Engineering Dean Lance Collins said Jeremy’s enrollment is exciting and, given his surprising maturity, will be a good fit at the university.

“While this is highly unusual, we feel that with the strong support of his parents – who will be moving here to provide him a place to live and study – and his unusual talents and thirst for knowledge, he will be able to thrive as an engineering student and take advantage of all that Cornell has to offer,” Collins said in an interview with Texas Tech University.

Jeremy plans to major in applied and engineering physics and minor in mathematics and will take courses in multivariable calculus, physics in mechanics and spatial relativity, among other subjects. Eventually, he hopes to turn the experience into a career in academia.

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