This was an interesting article on a number of levels, at least to a college professor with over twenty years in the classroom.
It needs to be considered first along with the Post's article on Tuesday about the watered-down courses for which high school students earn AP credit. In my experience, a semester in a college course generally gives a student much more real education than an AP course; many former AP students have floundered in courses at the community college where I teach. Why would a supposedly reputable institution like UVa accept 72 semester hours in AP credit from anyone?
Why would any counselor or administrator give approval for a student to enroll for 23 semester hours one semester and 37 the next? Even I, an English major, can do the calculations: The rule of thumb that advisors give students is two hours of study for every hour in the classroom, and one semester hour usually translates to an hour in the classroom. That means that someone--or perhaps a couple of someones because such a huge overload would require multiple approvals--thought it was okay for Mr. Bahn to commit himself to 111 hours of class and study in his second semester, leaving him a grand total of 57 for such trivialities as eating, sleeping, laundry, and other necessities. They thought it was okay for a first-semester freshman to commit to a 69-hour workweek before he even knew his way around the campus.
I'm sure he's intellectually gifted. I'm sure he did well on all of his tests. But life isn't about coming up with right answers quickly. How many employers are going to hire someone who has demonstrated only that he can study hard and play bridge?
With each year, I am more convinced that students who are packed off to "prestigious" universities at eighteen are done a grievous disservice.

Whoa there, professor.

Did you ever think that maybe these counselors and advisers actually did know the kid? I know David myself (I'm a bridge player) and he's a pretty well grounded kid. He's very gifted and very mature for his age. Despite your numbers, the reason that he could do it is that David is *VERY* bright and probably needs closer to one hour of study for one hour of class time and not closer to 2:1. Thus, David does have time to do other things (like I've seen him spending weekends during the school year playing at bridge tournaments).
He's also very active with the bridge leadership in the area and we all love his energy and enthusiasm. He's definitely not all about just books and learning.

Having dealt with him, I think a lot of employers would do very well hiring David. He's well rounded, enthusiastic and exhibits far better leadership skills than many adults with twice (or more) his years.

I think this should be about lauding one talented and bright individual instead of trying to fit one large generic statistical model around on exceptional person.

hahaha....

this is so TJ.

TJ = where many students go to summer school just to get more credits.

and David's AP's weren't watered down, they were probably harder then most high schools AP's in the country. Nothing at TJ is watered down challenge wise, espeically not AP's. Besides, I'm guessing he took some AP Exams for classes he wasn't enrolled in just to get more credits, I myself know a few people planning to do this.

but yeah, a double major in a year is amazing.

WannaBeDad, I've advised dozens of students registering for their first semester; in other words, I've been in the position of the advisor who approved that first semester 23-hour load for David. Believe me: It's impossible to know a first-time registrant well enough to confidently approve a credit load that's more than half again the normal full-time load. What would you be saying about the counselor (and probably the administrator) who approved the overloads if David hadn't succeeded? You might well be arguing, as I am, that those who signed off may have violated one of the university's academic regulations and absolutely violated customary practices of advising.
Current TJ Student, the fact that students pass AP exams without having completed courses in those subjects indicates one of the weaknesses of the program--nationally, not just at TJ. For the sake of the argument, I'll stipulate that the TJ AP courses are, in fact, the equivalent of college courses. But students aren't getting college credit for the courses; they're getting college credit for their performance on the exams. I'm curious, too, as to how a high school student who presumably hasn't taken many courses in a college would be able to make a valid comparison between how a course is taught in college and how the corresponding AP course is taught.
Finally, my point now and in my original post was that UVa personnel had done something that most of the academics I've known would regard as unethical. If education is about something more than passing tests and collecting credits--if it has to do with students using the courses they take as a basis for reflecting on how the world really works and their places in that world, the UVa personnel did David no favors.

Strikes me that David is one of those exceptionally gifted for whom the usual standards don't apply. There are numerous examples of truly gifted students following unusual academic tracks at the most high-level universities. Would it be better if he spent 2,3,4 years bored in classes? Also, common sense says that the advisors who signed off on those extraordinary hours thought carefully about what they were doing and who they were dealing with.

That is fine. You can graduate in 1 year, but no matter what, you need a strong background in physics, mathematics, and do research in physics. The longer you get, the easier you get into good school for graduate studies. If you look around in few states, which do not have AP class, Miles City, how will you graduate in 1 year??