Dallas, TX — Haley Taylor Schlitz, a 16-year old teenager who graduated from high school at the age of 13, is now set to attend classes at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, one of the nine law schools that accepted her, according to the American Bar Association.
This coming May, Haley will graduate with both an Associate’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree. In the upcoming summer, she will be attending a six-day program with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington for incoming law students.
Haley was homeschooled in the fifth grade due to her parents’ disapproval with the quality of education in her previous public school.
“I was just being taught to pass the end-of-the-year test to get to the next grade,” she told Texas Lawyer. “I wasn’t being taught to learn.”
What’s more, Haley said she wasn’t allowed to take the test to enter the gifted program in her school. Her parents had to have her tested privately, in which they found out she is indeed gifted.
After homeschooling, she entered high school and graduated at the age of 13. For one year, she began taking classes at Tarrant County College before starting her studies at Texas Woman’s University.
Now, she has been offered a place in nine different law schools into their 1L class. She chose to enroll this fall at Southern Methodist University, one of the top 50 law school in the US.
At first, Haley wanted to become a doctor just like his mother. But after experiencing such rejection to opportunities because of being Black, it “sparked a fire” in her to become a lawyer and help fight inequality. Aside from fighting for educational equality, she also finds intellectual property cool and interesting.