3 degrees aren't enough for 16-year-old UW grad Andrew Hsu has not yet been on a date or taken his driving test. But he does have three degrees — in neurobiology, biochemistry and chemistry. This month, just weeks after his 16th birthday, Hsu became the second-youngest person to graduate from the University of Washington, and the youngest with a triple degree. Starting this summer, he plans to begin his doctoral research into brain function at Stanford University's medical school. For Andrew, the UW is where he has grown up. Not just the 1-foot height spurt that began after his freshman year, but also where he began separating his own identity and destiny from the expectations of others. Talents show up early He started reading at 2 According to dad David Hsu, a computer-software engineer, Andrew's unusual talents began revealing themselves at age 2, when he started assembling Lego robots and teaching himself to read. When he was 7, his parents took him out of an advanced program at Apollo Elementary School in Issaquah and began to home-school him. That's when Andrew started to "explode academically," according to his father. A year later he was studying high-school courses through a University of Nebraska distance-learning program. At age 11, he became a local celebrity when he was the youngest to win a grand prize at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair. His entry involved examining a gene found in both humans and mice. The title? "Identification, Characterization and DNA Sequencing of the Homo Sapiens and Mus Musculus COL20A1 Gene (Type XX Collagen) with Bioinformatics and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)." Andrew's parents thought he was ready for higher education, even though he was too young to qualify for the UW's Robinson Center program, which offers early entrance for gifted teens. UW chemistry professor Bill Reinhardt was intrigued with Andrew, who'd already been doing some research at the UW School of Medicine. Reinhardt had done some investigating and found out Andrew was taking the bus to swim meets in Issaquah with other students — and was able to give back as much teasing as he received. "I went out to bat for him with a real uncertainty," Reinhardt said. "What I needed to know was not only that he could do college work, but also that he was a regular kid with a sense of humor, who could fit in and get along." Reinhardt found a makeshift way to allow Andrew to take a chemistry honors course. Andrew was 12 years old. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003752165_andrewhsu18m.html
Academic baller.. Casshern goes to UW, wonder if he knows this dude. and Polymerase Chain Reactions = awesome
cass is at washington?? freals? dammit...y cna't that guy b me...dammit how can he go to uni at 12...its not fair!!!!!
lol iv thought about this before though... would you take an 18 year old doctor seriously? I definitely wouldnt, regardless of how much of a genius he was.
unbelievable stuff man, 16 with three degrees shoot, wonder how long is his typical school day but damn man this is just crazy.
That's incredible. The question is, if he is a 'normal' person. Most of those high intelligent persons lack of social competence.
Wow, 3 degrees..and going into research ... I wouldnt be suprised if it was revealed that his parents or someone connected to him had conducted an experiment inolving genetics and he's the test subject whos turning out to be posistive results =X Just kidding.. Good on him. I'm not even close to my 1st degreee
that just tells us how much potential humans have. 3 degrees.. impressive.. I wonder if he has some extraordinary memory power. Usually ppl who're good at something, are weaker in other aspects. I wonder what's this kids weak subject.
^After getting 3 degrees within this short time he has more of his life than us because he has more time for anything else. However if I think about it, he has to work longer until getting the retirement age.
^ perhaps he wont be needing so many years to make money...unless his motive isn't abt making money but lifetime learning...
