A 13-year-old student is charging the University of Connecticut with age discrimination after the school told the young prodigy that he could not enroll in a course that involves studying ecology in South Africa. Colin Carlson, who's currently a sophomore, told the Associated Press that the course is critical for his thesis and that without it, he'll have to scrap some of his educational plans.
Carlson filed the claim after it rejected an overture by his mom to get him into the class. She offered to pay her way to chaperone her child and release the University of any liability with regards to her son's well-being while on the trip.
This isn't the first time the preternaturally precocious Carlson has faced roadblocks to his lofty educational goals of getting a Ph.D. in environmental science and a J.D. in environmental law by the time he is 22. Several colleges turned him down for admission after he completed high school. According to The New York Times, one of them, Williams College, replied to his application with a note saying, "What's the rush?" Connecticut College accepted Carlson, but then placed a litany of restrictions on courses he could take and would not house him on campus.
UConn had been his saving grace until now. Given the lengths that his mom was willing to go to, do you think UConn's study abroad office and the teacher leading the trip should have let him go? Or, given the fact that he is only 13, do you think institutions might have a point in telling him "What's the rush?"
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