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Comment by ghaff | Hacker News Reader

Meanwhile I actually started college at 16 which is illegal in some locales.

> illegal in some locales.

In the US or elsewhere? I've known a lot of people who attended college at 16, and through friends with teenage children know even more these days. They attended (or are attending) schools in a variety of states.

I think "illegal" is a strong word. Some states don't allow it in public universities. I suspect they're fine with it at private universities.

> Some states don't allow it in public universities.

But which states? I haven't been able to find anything about states barring minors from attending universities.

Some states such as Virginia (although with an exception if the person has a high school diploma or equivalent):

https://www.vccs.edu/application-information/

To qualify for general admission to a college, you must have a high school diploma, its equivalent, or be 18 years of age or older.

Unclear whether that is statewide or just a requirement of this state institution. I suspect many of the ones that do have this age requirement also have the diploma exception.

By what you quoted, VA does not require you to be an adult to attend college, if you graduate high school early (or somehow satisfy the diploma requirement early) you can attend college there (assuming you get admitted and meet whatever other requirements they have like SAT scores and such). That's not an example of a state barring minors from attending college.

Not clear in the US. Some countries, such as Canada may have stricter requirements even if some wiggle room.

I don't think Canada has a minimum age - just an educational requirement. If you've completed year 11 early, it looks like you'd be fine.

Probably fair. I think there is a lot of in terms of initially starting school, skipping grades, etc. that it is practically difficult (probably more than it used to be)-and probably a lot of competitive schools that will just go NEXT on the application. More or less obviously, private schools have a lot more flexibility.

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