Recent high school graduate 12-year-old Suborno Isaac Bari, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University (NYU) in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral programme.
“I hope to graduate college at 14 in spring 2026,” said Suborno, who recently became the youngest graduate from his Long Island high school.
“If I ever decide to do a second PhD, it will be in physics, but mainly I want to focus on math,” he told CNN.
The gifted tween, who memorized the periodic table at 2 years old and has taught lectures at colleges in India since he was 7, graduated on Wednesday from Malverne High School in Nassau County, New York.
Suborno, who says he skipped to 12th grade after completing ninth-grade studies, became the youngest-ever student to graduate from the high school, CNN affiliate WABC-TV reported.
His high school uses a 100-point GPA scale rather than a 4.0 scale, says Suborno, who shared he earned around a 96 GPA for his first year of high school and a 98 for his second and final year.
Once he began the 12th grade, Suborno took on nondegree classes at several universities around New York including NYU, Stony Brook University, the City University of New York and Brooklyn College.
“That was a whole new challenge for me,” he shared. “You’ve got much more homework, much longer classes, (many) more new subjects and material and it’s all condensed into a far shorter time than in school.”
The bright young student, whose family says he’s also skilled in painting, debate and playing the piano, could also be making history at NYU when he begins pursuing his bachelor of science degree.
A university spokesperson informed the Bari family “without NYU undertaking a complete review of its records, NYU is unaware of anyone younger than Suborno being admitted,” according to a copy of an email shared with CNN.
Suborno was introduced to education early on by his parents, Rashidul and Shaheda Bari. His father Rashidul teaches physics at Brooklyn Technical High school and his mother Shaheda is an elementary school teacher.
They noticed their youngest son was exceptionally bright in 2014 as they taught him basic math, according to Rashidul Bari.
“My wife was actually his teacher at the time. One day … she was teaching him one plus one, and he would be responding, ‘Mom, one plus one is two,’” Rashidul Bari said. “And then Mom would go, ‘then what is one plus two?’ And then he’d say ‘three,’ and then he’d be questioning Mom, ‘if one plus one is two, can you please tell me, what is n plus n?’”
The questions took Shaheda Bari by surprise, her husband says. Rashidul Bari says he at first paid it no mind because his eldest son, Refath Bari, 21, who attends Brown University, was also smart.
“So I told my wife, ‘OK, there is nothing surprising here, he probably did it to capture attention,’” Rashidul Bari said. “But it kept happening. Every math concept, he started abstracting.”
Suborno’s dad, who was a math student at the time, shared the fascinating discovery with one of his professors.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama sent Suborno a letter praising the bright student for his hard work and accomplishments. The family shared a copy of the letter with CNN.
In 2020 when he was 7, Suborno began receiving invitations from colleges in India to teach, which he does three times a year, his dad says.
“My professor said, ‘no way, a 2-year-old cannot do that abstraction. You should pay serious attention,’” Rashidul Bari said.
Suborno continued attracting attention, which eventually led to him getting invited to take college-level courses, his dad said.
“That gives him lots of chances to have conversations with different levels of expertise, students, faculties, college presidents, so many people,” Rashidul Bari said.
The family says they were told by Mensa he must wait until he’s 14 years old – around the time Suborno says he plans to graduate from NYU – to have his IQ tested.
Suborno plans to continue his family’s trend of teaching by one day becoming a math and physics professor.
“It’s absolutely insane,” he said about starting at NYU in the fall. “I can’t wait for all the opportunities I’ll have, I’ll be able to meet people who are actually interested … fully in math and science, and people who are also majoring in math and physics and who want to find out these mysteries behind the universe.”
