Child prodigy graduates at 15

Arie Tan took the Graduate Record Examination before he began his undergraduate degree at Ohio State. He scored a perfect 800 in math, 630 in verbal and 4.5 in analytical writing. He was 12.

Now 15, Arie will graduate with a molecular genetics degree June 10 with a 3.82 grade point average.

His future plans? Cure cancer.

The child-prodigy story does not end with Arie. His 12-year-old brother, Adrian, started his biomedical engineering degree at OSU in March.

“I want to get a kick-start on my career,” Adrian said.

This is a sentiment shared by the brothers, who both by the time they were in second grade grew bored of elementary school.

“I was at school and that option wasn’t exciting,” Arie said.

At the request of their sons, parents Fabian and Angeline Tan pulled the brothers out of Ridgewood Elementary in Hilliard. They home-schooled their sons through an intense, 900-hour-per-year curriculum that included field trips to far-away places, such as the family’s native Indonesia, Switzerland and across Central Europe.

“There is something about our society that is not ready to accept underage students,” said Fabian, an OSU civil engineering professor. “I try to bring our kids to church and socialize.”

The brothers said they do not regret skipping middle and high school.

“If I had to wait that long, it would be wasted potential,” Arie said about wanting to get a jump start at college. “I know that I’m more professional and blend in better with the (college) students.”

Traditional coming-of-age milestones such as getting a driver’s license or going to prom are currently taking a back seat to books, the brothers said.

“I’m taking too much time studying. I feel like it will be better if I’m secure in what I’ll be doing,” Arie said about dating. “I wouldn’t be too concerned with having a girlfriend. Only if it would be conducive for my career, I would take (a girlfriend).”

He is not concerned about getting a driver’s license, either.

“There’s a lot of issues of underage driving, the teenagers themselves. They have a long way to go before the control – before they are able to stay at the wheel,” Arie said. “I don’t think I know what I’m doing yet. I don’t feel like I’m one with the car.”

Despite skipping high school’s awkward, yet formative years, which are usually spent exploring social boundaries, Arie said he has made friends in college.

“I was able to manage,” he said. “Eventually I try to appeal to what (college kids) like to talk about: movies and course work.”

The brothers said they have learned from their father to take criticism from jealous students in stride.

“My dad always told me, ‘Smile and ignore,” Arie said.

And as for the often-cited, cliché television reference?

“I have been called Doogie Howser,” he said, “usually it’s a compliment.”

Ryan Merrill can be reached at [email protected].