This semester Jeremy Shuler is leaving his home in Texas and starting his collegiate education at Cornell University. He took AP classes in high school, he can read Korean and English and he loves sci-fi.

He seems like the average college student, except for the fact that he’s only 12 years old.

Shuler is a freshman at Cornell majoring in engineering physics with a minor in mathematics. He was homeschooled for most of his life and took online classes to get his high school diploma through the Texas Tech University Independent School District (TTUISD). His parents did not send him to a public or charter school, and Shuler said he liked homeschooling more than he would have enjoyed a typical education.

He is the son of two aerospace engineers and displayed prowess in mathematics at a young age. According to TTUISD’s website, he was working on high school-level curriculum by the time he was 8 years old. He started his studies at TTUISD when he was 10 and graduated from high school when he was 12.

“His academic level was just way up there when comparing him to a regular ninth or 10th grader,” said Lisa Stone, Shuler’s former academic advisor at TTUISD.

Though he will be attending a university, Shuler will not have the same college experience as most freshmen: Because of his age, he will not be living in a dorm while he studies at Cornell.

His parents moved to Ithaca, NY, where Cornell is located. Shuler said his grandparents already live there, which added to the convenience of the move. He takes the bus to school every day from his family’s apartment in downtown Ithaca while they await the completion of the home they’re building.

Dawn S. McWilliams, Cornell’s Engineering Department director of marketing and communications, said a stipulation for Shuler’s attendance to Cornell was for him to not live on campus and for his parents to move to Ithaca.

McWilliams said it should be expected that Shuler is treated like all other students on campus.

“I don’t feel like I’m treated differently,” Shuler said. “Everybody’s been really nice to me.”

Shuler said he had a good first week of classes, adding that physics is his favorite and most challenging course.

“It’s challenging enough that it’s interesting for me, but not super hard,” he said.

Shuler said he dreams of continuing his education past a bachelor’s degree and wants to become a professor at a college or university.

Stone, Shuler’s former advisor, said she expects that he’ll fare well at Cornell.

“He just seems so eager to learn and wanting to get to the next level,” she said. “I hope to keep up with him because I think he’ll do great things.”

Published on September 7, 2016 at 8:29 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001