12-Year-Old Boy Chooses UC Davis to Study Biomedical Engineering

At age 11, Tanishq Abraham became the youngest student to graduate with three degrees in the 60-year history of his Sacramento college.

Now, at age 12, he will be among the youngest students to ever attend the University of California at Davis — as a junior. The youngest student ever to attend, was 12-year-old Nicole Tan of Byron in 2000, who graduated in May 2004, according to school spokeswoman Julia Ann Easley.

The brainy pre-teen will study bio-engineering, his mother Taji Abraham told NBC Bay Area on Monday.

Tanishq has already racked up two years of credit while studying at American River College, where he earned three associates degrees in math and physical science, general science and language studies, enabling him to enter UC Davis as a junior.

Tanishq was also accepted to UC Santa Cruz, but his family, which lives in the Sacramento area, chose the closer school in Davis. Abraham said she didn't want to send the pre-pubescent boy to live in the dorms by himself. This way, she can drop off Tanishq on campus, run some errands and come back for him.

"Location, location, location," Tanishq said as his main reason for choosing the UC school closest to his home.

Tanishq's 10-year-old sister, Tiara, is now currently attending his alma mater of American River College. Uprooting the family to Santa Cruz would have been more difficult for everyone, Abraham said.

As for summer plans, Abraham said Tanishq will simply be taking more classes. He's been out of school for two weeks, she said, and "he's been bored to death."

The age of the youngest student in the history of UC Davis was not immediately known.

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