Meet Mexico’s 11-Year-Old Genius Who Scored Higher Than Einstein on IQ Test and Dreams of Joining NASA

The actions of an 11-year-old prodigy, confirmed to have a higher IQ than genius scientist Einstein, are catching attention.

Aldara Pérez Sanchez, 11, of Mexico City, central Mexico, was born and raised in an area where the economy is not well off. By the age of three, his language skills were significantly lower than those of his peers, and he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of developmental disability or autism spectrum disorder.

Asperger’s Syndrome is a disease that has problems with interpersonal relationships, limited behaviors, interests, and activities, and shows stereotyped symptoms that repeat the same pattern.

Neither the school teachers nor the classmates could accept Sanchez, who found it difficult to contact others and always looked blankly at one place.

Sanchez’s parents visited the hospital for treatment for their daughter and received an unexpected diagnosis. It was the fact that Sanchez showed genius, and that the reason why he was staring blankly at one place was to realize the principles of things.

Sanchez took an intelligence quotient (IQ) test and scored 162, higher than Einstein or Stephen Hawking’s IQ of 160.

Sanchez’s parents followed expert advice and sent their daughter to a school for gifted children, but it didn’t last long. This is because the tuition for gifted students was not small.

Experts recommended that Sanchez’s parents send their daughter to a school for gifted children, but it wasn’t easy. It was because of the poor economic situation.

Afterwards, this genius girl graduated from elementary school at the age of 5 through a GED, and completed both middle school and high school a year later.

The process of going to college after that was not easy. She tried to enter Mexico’s most prestigious university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), but the school rejected her admission, saying, “I am too young to be accepted by public schools.”

The University of Arizona in the United States, which recognized Sanchez’s genius, recommended admission, but he could not leave Mexico because of tuition and visa problems.

Fortunately, Mexico’s CNCI University and Mexico’s University of Technology (UNITEC) accepted Sanchez, and he was able to major in computer science and mathematics, respectively.

Now 11 years old, the genius girl’s dream is to become an astronaut for NASA. On Sanchez’s Instagram, you can often see him wearing gear with the NASA logo and smiling brightly.

“I want to go into space and make Mars habitable for humans,” Sanchez said. To that end, I hope to go to the University of Arizona, where I can study astrophysics.”

Currently, Sanchez is undergoing gravitational acceleration test (G-test) training for piloting an airplane and boarding a spacecraft through the Mexican Space Agency affiliated with NASA.

Last April, she stood as a cover model for the international fashion magazine Marie Claire Mexico. “Apart from studying to become astronauts, we work with the Mexican Space Agency to encourage other young girls to explore space and do math,” Sanchez said.

Reporter Song Hyeon-seo huimin0217@seoul.co.kr