Is mechanical shutter necessary for max bit depth on your camera? It isn’t on mine (Sony), but bit depth reduces to 12 bit if you max out the framerate. You might still be able to get full 14 bit RAWs if you drop the framerate.

You can do this on Linux using gphoto2, ffmpeg, and v4l2loopback. You probably won’t get full resolution but the quality will still be good enough for video conferencing. See here for a guide.

Not that unusual IMO, lots of people start their PhD directly after completing their Bachelor’s. If they weren’t born born in the first half of the year then they’ll have completed their BS by 21 and start the PhD either at 21 or 22.