Gifted students revel in a class of their own

Early access to undergraduate studies helps academically talented young people exploit their potential to the fullest. Zhu Lixin reports from Hefei.

Early this month, Zhu Yuanhao and six other students sat in the conference room of the School of the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, and answered questions posed by a group of reporters.

The school's students rarely give interviews, partly to avoid overexposure and partly because most of them are younger than 18, and therefore juveniles.
"Too much exposure to media reports may place unexpected pressures on young students and can sometimes make them a little arrogant, so we seldom permit reporters to interview them," said Chen Yang, dean of the school.

Zhu was the first to answer a question. As the only student in the group from the school's senior class, he decided that it was his responsibility to soak up the pressure on behalf of his peers, even though the 19-year-old was not the oldest scholar in the room.

In most cases, students who show exceptional academic aptitude at an early age can be recommended to the school by their teachers. To gain entry, they have to take the gaokao, the national university entrance exam, years ahead of schedule. If they pass the exam and an interview, they will be accepted by the school for undergraduate studies.