It depends on too many things to say for sure.
For New Jersey, presumably it refers to obtaining a USA glider pilot's licence. I would have thought it possible for a 16-year old with no previous flying experience, 35 instructional flights (assuming aerotow, which most USA operations use) and 35 solo flights to achieve an ICAO-level licence level for flying, with ground school etc. to cover air law and other requirements - but I know nothing of specific USA licence requirements so somebody else may help more on that score. IF the foregoing is true, you could also expect your previous flying experience to help, provided it was good experience and not picking up any bad habits, or habits not helpful to gliding (like non-use of the rudder in coordinating turns).
If you want to glide in the UK, it is a different ball game, at present. Forget licences - there is no CAA-issued UK gliding licence. Starting from scratch, 35 instructional flights, if all aerotow giving 12-20 minutes per flight, are usually more than enough for an apt 16-year old with no previous flying experience to go solo. If all are winch launches (typically 3-5 minutes each short flight) they may just about suffice to solo to civilian club standards. (Air cadets used to, and may still for all I know, go solo after 20 launches on a much more limited basis.)
After solo, UK glider pilots progress through certificates and badges, not (yet, generally) to a licence. To get to Bronze plus cross country endorsement, about equivalent to a PPL licence level but without having yet done a cross-country flight, another 35 flights (if all aerotow) including some 2-seater flights for further training, sounds about right. If all winch, it is not enough - Bronze needs typically 50 solo winch launches if done that way, plus the further training flights.
Have a look at
http://www.gliding.co.uk/index.htm if you want more on UK gliding, and have not yet seen it.
Chris N.