Photo of Xiao Yuhe
Fudan University yesterday admitted its youngest student for the academic year, 14-year-old Xiao Yuhe.
Beijing native Yuhe will be joined by two other students who are just months older at the renowned city university.
Yuhe has been admitted by the School of Mathematical Sciences, and yesterday moved into his dormitory in Yangpu District, which he will share with older roommates.
"It is my dream to study in the school of mathematics at Fudan as I've been interested in mathematics since I was very young," he told reporters.
Yuhe was admitted by the university after scoring 692 out of 750 in the national college entrance exam in June. He scored the maximum 150 for math.
He took just four years to complete the eight-year secondary school curriculum at the "genus class" at Beijing No.8 High School.
He joined the school at 10 — the youngest student.
"I didn't find it difficult to adapt to being there, we had the same number of classes as most high school students," Yuhe said.
While students spend long hours cramming for the national exam, Yuhe said he also made time for resting and leisure.
He said he played football with classmates every day, jogged every evening and was in bed by 10pm each night.
As he looks forward to beginning his studies at Fudan, Yuhe admitted that, as he will be living away from his parents for the first time, the summer vacation saw some very different studying.
"The most important homework for me this summer was to learn how to wash my clothes and make my bed," he said.
After graduating, Yuhe plans to study abroad on math-related majors, such as economics and computer sciences.
He has brought a computer and iPad with him, but says these are mainly to keep in touch with his parents on Wechat, as he has no mobile phone yet.
"My son will face an age gap with his classmates but we've asked him to try to make friends with other students," Yuhe's father told reporters.
Yuhe's mother, a doctor of economics, said she would not talk with her son every day as he should try to acclimatize to campus life.
The young student's parents said that they will give him 1,000 yuan (US$157) a month spending money.
