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Boy Drops Out Of University Just Before He Was Set To Become World's Youngest Graduate

Boy Drops Out Of University Just Before He Was Set To Become World's Youngest Graduate

Laurent Simons, 9, was all set to finish his electrical engineering degree but suddenly changed his mind.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The world was amazed when it was revealed a nine-year-old Dutch boy was about to become the world's youngest university graduate.

Laurent Simons has been studying electrical engineering at Eindhoven University, usually completed in three years, and was going to finish after 10 months.

However, the university said the boy from Amsterdam wouldn't have enough time to finish all his exams by the time he would turn 10 on Boxing Day. They instead chucked him on a less intense schedule that would have him graduate mid-next year.

PA

However, Laurent's parents have decided that's not good enough and have immediately removed him from the course.

The boy's dad, Alexander Simons, has told Reuters: "Until last week everything was fine, and now suddenly they see a delay of six months."

Alexander has suggested the university is delaying Laurent's studies because they were preparing to enrol the boy in a different institution for his PhD.

"It's very peculiar that this all comes right at the time when we were finalising our plans for Laurent's PhD at a different university", Simons said.

"There is a lot of interest in Laurent from universities he would be honoured to join...There is so much demand for Laurent, he is a unique project which everybody wants to be a part of."

PA

"Laurent is an exceptionally gifted boy, who is going through his studies at an unprecedented pace", the university said in a statement.

According to the Daily Mail, the nine-year-old's current tutor at TUE, Professor Peter Baltus, reckons the boy is at least three times smarter than the next most intelligent student he's met during his career.

Not only does he have an IQ of 145 but he also has a photographic memory.

Laurent wants to change the world of cardiac surgery because both his grandparents are currently dealing with heart issues. The nine-year-old is keen on maths and science but is just like every other kid and enjoys Fortnite and Netflix.

He wants to embark on a PhD program in electrical engineering while also studying for a medicine degree.

While he would like to go to California for his next educational journey, his dad wants him to go to Oxford in the UK.

But if he doesn't complete his studies at Eindhoven University by the time he turns 10, the record for the world's youngest graduate title will remain with Michael Kearney, who graduated from the University of Alabama at the age of ten years and four months.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News