13-year-old with 168 IQ to pursue master’s in New York

n n

A 13-year-old boy from Long Island, New York, Joe Petraro-Hyppolite, is set to begin a master’s programme at New York University next year, CBS News reports on Thursday.

n

Petraro-Hyppolite, who has an IQ of 168, is currently working towards completing his undergraduate degree and is expected to graduate in May 2027.

n

He has already achieved several academic milestones at an unusually young age, including scoring 1,590 on the SAT at 10 and obtaining his high school diploma at 11, CBS reported.

n

Petraro-Hyppolite said he had been accepted into an NYU master’s programme in sports management, with studies also involving kinesiology and biology.

n

“My master’s is going to be sports management but other than [that] it’s also kinesiology and biology,” Petraro-Hyppolite said.

n

The teenager said he was excited about the next stage despite some nervousness.

n

“Yeah, I mean, who wouldn’t be? But then again, I am also excited, because new doors are opening,” he added.

n

Petraro-Hyppolite has also attended Louisiana State University and currently studies alongside students much older than him.

n

He said other students sometimes react with surprise when they realise his age.

n

His mother, Anne Petraro-Hyppolite, said her son’s academic progress was particularly significant because he had previously been placed in special education classes after being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.

n

“It’s just surreal. When he graduated high school so young, it was surreal, but this is … everything he does is surreal. He just loves to learn. He is like a sponge,” she said.

n

Despite his academic achievements, Petraro-Hyppolite said his abilities did not mean that everything came naturally to him.

n

“It’s not like I was shot out the womb knowing everything I know. I have to learn it once or twice. Then I’ll know,” he said.

n

The teenager also spends some of his free time volunteering, including helping residents at a nursing home in the Five Towns area of Long Island.

n

He said he eventually wants to pursue a career in palaeontology.

n

If he completes the master’s programme as planned, he would graduate at about the same time he becomes legally eligible to drive.

n n