@danirabbit 100% agree. There is a huge range of contributions young people can make (and have made). In all fields, and I do not exaggerate.

I used to be a special prize judge for the US national science and engineering fair. (Was Westinghouse, then Intel). Every year I was astonished by the work of students who were often very young. One year I met a young woman at the competition, age 13 or so, and she was brilliant. She was there every year with something new. A brain computer interface at age 16! The next year I got her a hosted day at Caltech to hang out, attend some lectures. Not your ordinary college interview. A well known professor of astrophysics told me later that she asked better questions than his graduate students! Caltech offered her a free ride, a stipend, a fully equipped lab, an assistant … she ultimately chose MIT which was closer to her home. She has had a brilliant career.