I remember in some of the novels they tried to say Rand was 15 pretending to be 16 to serve in Starfleet when she started on their Enterprise - despite the actress being in her 30's.....
On screen they've established pretty well that people join the Academy as a teen and can be assigned to active duty pretty soon afterwards. DS9 even had a war ship crewed entirely by teens.
On screen they've established pretty well that people join the Academy as a teen and can be assigned to active duty pretty soon afterwards. DS9 even had a war ship crewed entirely by teens.