Boy Goes From Special Education to Master's Program at 13

The average American doesn't start a master's program until their 30s; Joe Petraro-Hyppolite is lining one up before he can drive. The 13-year-old from Long Island has been accepted into a graduate program at New York University, where he plans to study sports management along with kinesiology and biology, CBS News reports. First, he'll wrap up his undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University, which he expects to finish next May. This only adds to Joe's standout accomplishments, including a 1590 SAT score at age 10, and a high school diploma by 11.

He has an IQ of 168, though that's not visible to his college classmates, around twice his age, who, he says, often do a "double glance" when they see him. His mother, Anne, calls his progress "surreal," noting he was once placed in special education after being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. Joe stresses that his trajectory isn't effortless: "It's not like I was shot out the womb knowing everything I know. I have to learn it once or twice." A volunteer at a nursing home, per the Washington Times, he eventually hopes to become a paleontologist—and could have a master's degree in hand around the same time he earns his driver's license.