13-Year-Old Student To Graduate College With Physics Degree, Math Minor
A 13-year-old is set to earn a bachelor’s degree in May a physics major and math minor.
Elliott Tanner is on pace to graduate from the University of Minnesota with a 3.78 grade-point average and has been accepted into the University of Minnesota’s Physics PhD program. Tanner has said that he hopes to become a physics professor.
“I have an incredible passion for physics,” Tanner said in a recent interview. “It’s been one of my favorite things to do.”
Tanner's intellect drew attention in May 2019. His story drew national attention when he was interviewed on ABC's "GMA3: Strahan, Sara, and Keke," and expressed curiosity as to whether the sun will one day "engulf the Earth."
Tanner was capable of reading and doing math when he was 3 years old. He then excelled at high school material when he was about 7 or 8 and began taking college classes when he was 9, according to his mom Michelle Tanner. She said that advanced learning has not affected his childhood life.
“People who hear Elliott’s story say he doesn’t get to be a kid, or he grew up too fast,” Michelle Tanner said. “He still very much is a kid and the only difference is he goes to school in a different building.”
Elliott Tanner explained that as one of the youngest students at the university that he seems to shock some of his fellow students with his age.
"Sometimes there is sort of a ‘wow’ period for a week or two and then everyone just kinda gets used to seeing me in class, and it becomes a normal occurrence," Tanner told FOX Minnesota.
He said his favorite show is the CBS sitcom "Young Sheldon," because he can identify with the lead character.
Now that Tanner has been accepted into a PhD program, his family is working on how to pay for the education. They have sought scholarships and grants.
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