Joe Petraro-Hyppolite, a 13-year-old student from Long Island, New York, is drawing widespread attention after being accepted into a master’s program at New York University. According to CBS News New York, Joe says he has an IQ of 168 and has already reached a series of academic milestones years earlier than most students his age. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT when he was just 10 years old and earned his high school diploma at age 11.
Joe is currently completing his undergraduate degree and plans to graduate in 2027 before beginning his master’s studies at NYU. CBS reports that his graduate program will focus on sports management, while he has also expressed interests in kinesiology and biology. Despite regularly studying alongside much older classmates, Joe has described the next stage of his education as both exciting and understandably intimidating.
His story is unusual not only because of his age but also because of the path that led him there. Joe’s mother told CBS News that he had previously been placed in special-education classes after being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. She described him as someone who has always loved learning, while Joe himself emphasized that being gifted does not mean knowledge comes automatically — he still has to study and learn the material.
Outside the classroom, Joe has volunteered at a nursing home and has said he may eventually pursue paleontology. His rapid academic progression has attracted national attention, but his own comments suggest that he views the achievements as part of an ongoing education rather than an endpoint. If he completes his undergraduate degree as planned, he will begin graduate study while still in his early teens — an academic timeline that is exceptionally uncommon.
