As a second-grader in Meridian schools, Rachel Ellison knew the answers to all the questions her instructor asked.

So the teacher put Rachel in front of the classroom to ask the questions, instead of answer them.

She never surrendered her edge and now, at age 16, she'll start as a freshman this fall at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. She wants to study brain science and linguistics.

"The people who go there aren't just smart," Rachel said. "They are passionate. They care about their education."

A few years ago, Rachel and her family left Boise for her to enroll in Davidson Academy, a free public high school on the University of Nevada's Reno campus that caters to the profoundly gifted - those who might be considered geniuses.

At one point, she was attending Hillside Junior High in Boise School District, Centennial High School in Meridian District and the Treasure Valley Math and Science Center at the same time. But she eventually exhausted the challenges they had to offer.

At the Davidson School she also enrolled in UNR, where she is now a junior.

"I was looking to be challenged," she said.

Rachel doesn't know her IQ, but when she was tested in first grade, she was told it the highest score the psychologist had ever seen.

"Innately my strength is in math and science," she said. "I have always had an analytical mind. But what interests me is history, culture, religion and foreign languages."

Rachel conquers her lessons quickly. When she enrolled in three-week long UNR college courses of Spanish and chemistry at age 12, the first week covered things she already new, her mother Jae said. In the second weeks she learned new material.

"I do have to work really hard at it," Rachel said. "But after a while, my brain gets used to it. I would say my hardest semester at Davidson was where I was (also) a full-time university student."

When Rachel was growing up, people didn't quite know what to make of her, she said. "I was an extreme loner." Being around intellectual equals at Davidson exposed her to a social network she lacked. The academics, she said, may have been her main reason for coming to Davidson, "But my favorite part has definitely been the social atmosphere."

Rachel is a bit daunted at going to MIT. "It is admittedly a little bit scary," she said.

Her mom thinks she'll fit in well.

"She is very mature," Jae Ellison said.

Bill Roberts: 377-6408The Associated Press contributed to this report.