12-Year-Old Readying For University Life

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It's the time of year for many students to think about heading off to university and their next chapter.

A 12-year-old boy has already won a regents scholarship to continue college and he has even bigger dreams.

It began with a love of dinosaurs, and the next thing you know, Tanishq Abraham was asking his parents to allow him to take a college course. He was 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 age 7, he came back and convinced Mom and Dad 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," he 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," he said.

She's a doctor of veterinary medicine. His professors say he wasn't afraid to ask questions, lots of questions.

Fast-forward five years at the ripe old age of 12, he has been accepted to UC Davis and received a regents scholarship to 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.

He'll be a junior transfer student when he enrolls in either UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz.