Add The New York Post on Google He’s the Doogie Howser of the dorms!
A 13-year-old Long Island whiz kid with an Einstein-level IQ has been accepted to NYU’s master program — after overcoming cancer and Tourette’s syndrome, according to school officials and his mom.
Pint-sized prodigy Joe Petraro-Hyppolite plans to study sports medicine at the university next fall and will likely be the school’s youngest grad student ever, according to reports.
“My IQ is 168,” Joe Petraro-Hyppolite, of East Rockaway, told CBS. “Whenever I tell people, it’s like, ‘Oh, Young Sheldon, Doogie Howser.’”
By comparison, Albert Einstein’s IQ is believed to have been around 160, which is generally considered “genius level.”
Petraro-Hyppolite scored a near-perfect 1590 on the SAT at age 10 and graduated high school the next year.
He is expected to complete his undergrad degree at Louisiana State University in May, despite being nearly a decade younger than some of his peers.
“They shot like a double glance, like, ‘Wait, what?'” he said of the reaction he sometimes gets in class.
The boy genius said he’s nervous but thrilled about hitting the books in the Big Apple.
“I am also excited, because new doors are opening,” he said. “My master’s is going to be sports management but other than [that] it’s also kinesiology and biology.”
Petraro-Hyppolite was diagnosed with leukemia in September 2021, and reportedly had to overcome undiagnosed Tourette’s, a neurological disorder that landed him in special ed classes.
Being gifted doesn’t mean life’s a breeze, he said.
“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.
His mom, Anne Petraro-Hyppolite, said she’s extra-proud considering all her son has overcome.
“It’s just surreal. When he graduated high school so young, it was surreal, but this is … everything he does is surreal,” she said. “He just loves to learn. He is like a sponge.”
In 2017, Chiang Ching-liang, of Taiwan, became the youngest ever student ever to be admitted to NYU’s undergrad program at age 13, according to the Taipei Times.
There are no media reports about anyone younger than Petraro-Hyppolite ever being accepted into an NYU masters program.
A rep for the school told The Post Friday he was looking into whether Petraro-Hyppolite will officially be NYU’s youngest ever grad student.
The average age of a person starting grad school in the U.S. is 33 years old — more than double Petraro-Hyppolite’s age, according to data from the Council of Graduate Schools.
