"You can't always get what you want"

Gregory House was born to John and Blyth House on June 11, 1959, presumably in Ohio (due to his listed Social Security Number from the episode 2.24 "No Reason"). His father John served as a United States Marine Corps pilot, and moved around between stations during House's childhood (Episode 2.5 "Daddy's Boy"). It was during these travels that he presumably picked up his affinity for world languages, showing some level of understanding of Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi over the course of the series. One of these stations was in Egypt, where Greg discovered a passing fascination with archeology and treasure hunting, a fascination which led him to keep his treasure hunting tools well into his adult life. (Episode 2.15 "Clueless")

After receiving his undergraduate degree, House studied for a time at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His stay there was cut short, however, when he was caught cheating off of fellow student Phillip Weber's exam by Weber himself (Episode 2.12 "Distractions"). This action embittered House against Weber, especially since Weber's paper had the wrong answer anyway. Following his expulsion from Johns Hopkins, House applied and was accepted to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (with fellow student Lisa Cuddy, who would later become his boss) where he graduated with his M.D., specializing in Infectious Disease and Nephrology.