i don't know Alex directly that well but i believe his "freshman year" skipped all GIRs and was spent polishing off the most advanced graduate courses in CS theory (18.404), machine learning (6.867), algorithms (6.854), etc.
so basically he did MIT at the PhD level in 1 year.
As a classmate myself who did it in 3, at a high level too (and I think Varun - of Windsurf - completed his undergrad in 3 years also)...
Wang's path and trajectory, thru MIT at least, is unmatched to my knowledge.
That courseload is completely unremarkable for a first-year with experience in competitive programming (like Wang had). I know a dozen people who did the same.
i know a dozen who come close but none who did the same, nor who had the entrepreneurial bent so early... curious who are these people you have in mind?
Alexandr is just a dude, like you or me, with his own life and his own worries and his own problems. He’s more like the rest of us than you seem to think.
Not trying to diminish his academic accomplishments, but it isn't that uncommon for experienced freshman students to just jump straight into advanced topics. If you're the type that has been coding since you were 10, been active in Olympic teams, or whatever, you can probably do just fine in such courses.
If anything, you'd be bored with some undergrad courses.
so basically he did MIT at the PhD level in 1 year.
As a classmate myself who did it in 3, at a high level too (and I think Varun - of Windsurf - completed his undergrad in 3 years also)...
Wang's path and trajectory, thru MIT at least, is unmatched to my knowledge.