He is 12, with an IQ of 168 and living with a neurological disease. But he's all set to become the youngest student in an MA programme at New York University. Who is Joe Petraro Hyppolite?

Most people in the USA obtain their first master’s degree in their 30s. However, one boy is on track to have an MA degree under his belt before he turns 18. Joe Petraro-Hyppolite, a 13-year-old from Long Island, New York, is all set to become the youngest student at New York University next fall. In a chat with CBS, the youngster gave a sneak peek at why he achieved this milestone. His IQ is reportedly 168, and he has already attended Louisiana State University. Joe was in no mood to fake humility as he revealed his superb IQ level. “Whenever I tell people, it's like, 'Oh, Young Sheldon, Doogie Howser,” he said.

His IQ is not empty boasting. He has the numbers to back the claim. As per a CBS News report, he got a 1590 on the SAT at just 10 years old and a high school diploma at age 11.

His planned master’s programme will focus on sports management, and he also has academic interests in kinesiology and biology.


Even though taking this big step ahead might feel a little uncertain, the young student is really excited about all the possibilities that come next. He sees the opportunity as a way to try new things and go down roads he couldn't reach before.

His mother, Anne Petraro-Hyppolite, thinks her son's school experience is especially impressive because he went through his early learning in a very different way. After he was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, he was moved to special education classes. Since then, he has kept reaching big goals really quickly.

For his mom, seeing him finish high school so young was really hard to believe, which made his efforts to get a master’s degree even more amazing. She says a lot of his improvement comes from his strong interest and real excitement about learning, and she describes him as someone who happily takes in knowledge whenever he comes across it.

Joe revealed that he is interested in a career in palaeontology.

Joe is, however, not the first adolescent to enrol in a programme at NYU. Before him, Suborno Isaac Bari, a South Asian 12-year-old boy, made headlines as he was accepted into a BS programme in maths and physics at NYU.

According to the American Brain Foundation, the tourette syndrome is a neurological disease characterised by involuntary, repititive movements known as tics. Although the exact reason is unknown, recent research indicates that tics may occur when there are issues with the brain's communication system, such as abnormalities in certain brain regions or in nerve cell transmission.