To calizephyr,
My son is taking the standard classes the teachers compile for all 7th graders: 2 LA, 1 Science, 1 Math, Health/PE (supplanted with his gifted class this 1/2 of the semester), Spec. Ed. class (in lieu of a music class). And it was he who alerted me to the fact that he won't be able to attend the universities he'd like because of the lack of Math proficiency. I hadn't arrived there yet. He is looking forward to college. He sees the big picture and looks ahead. When problem-solving, he uses a wide array of resources. For example, if I were to teach him about an apple, I'd need to start by showing him the whole apple, then dissect it in portions, down to the seed. Whereas most teachers start with the seed because the students don't understand the whole apple at first. Does that make sense? Given this understanding of him, the answer is yes, he does anticipate college. He knows he wants to be in an occupation that only comes from higher education. And he gets that.
To Snowgirl, he likes taking things apart...not putting them together. That's why he doesn't do things like Legos. Learning how things function by taking them apart is his motivation.