12-year-old California boy ready to start college
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.
CBS Sacramento reports that it began with a love of dinosaurs, and not long after, Tanishq Abraham was asking his parents to allow him to take a college course. He was just 6 years old.
"It's like, you're 6 years old and you want to take a college class?" his mother said. "So we just laughed it off."
But at 7 years old, he came back and convinced his parents to ask American River College about attending a class.
"Lots of professors, they didn't really want me in their classes because I was too young," Tanishq said.
Finally, a professor agreed, but there was one condition -- mom had to participate. It didn't take long for Tanishq to become the top student.
"There were times when I had to explain general relativity and special relativity to my mom," Tanishq said.
His professors say he wasn't afraid to ask questions, lots of questions.
Last year, he received associate's degrees from American River College in general science; math and physical science; and foreign language studies.
At the ripe old age of 12, Tanishq has been accepted to UC Davis and received a regents scholarship to UC Santa Cruz.
He'll be a junior transfer student when he enrolls in either UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz.
He plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher.
"I think I'll be 18 when I get my MD," he said.
Tanishq says he knows child geniuses are often thought to be odd.
"When you think of a genius you think of a mad scientist kind of thing," he said.
But he says he's just an ordinary kid who plays with video games and not just microscopes. He says he just likes to learn.