Addendum to Canon vs. Fanon, part 14: How old is Sam, really?

[fignewton]

There was considerable discussion in the comments section of the Sam Carter edition regarding Sam's actual age. If you're interested in reading the details that lead to the final conclusion (the screencap from Entity doesn't work, but Sam is still younger than Daniel), this link will take you directly to the new analysis.

And thanks, Codger. :)

Comments

[ultranos-fic.livejournal.com]

Because, really truly, in the sciences (and I firmly believe Sam would have gone to a Top Tier grad school) starting with a bachelor's that quick is almost impossible - with a lot of dedication and a lot of luck, three is just barely believable.

It really, really depends on where you go. I know of one place in particular that you can get a Masters in 1 year, but that's doing some very interesting backflips. (I'm talking Science or Engineering degrees, here.) From that program, getting all of grad school in 3 years (meaning 2 on PhD) is conceivable, but even your peers will tell you you're insane (and that's not even dealing with crazy politics).

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Oh, 1 year masters are not all that uncommon (though terminal masters in the sciences are more common for 2-3 years). But there are so many hoops for a PhD and so much is luck with getting access to instruments and having experiments work and getting enough papers through the review process and published and getting your thesis written and defended and...it just takes time.

So, yeah, 3 is possible provided you work really really really hard and are magnificently lucky.
(I know when I was applying - in chemistry where you don't bother with masters if you're getting a PhD usually - Northwestern made a big deal that 4.5 years was common there because it was shorter than most schools)
*shrugs*
Sam = SMART

[ultranos-fic.livejournal.com]

Sam = SMART

QED. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Sam = SMART

Hee hee! Problem solved!