Indian-American Preesha, 9, among world's brightest students: Johns Hopkins

Preesha, who goes to Warm Spring Elementary in California's Fremont, was among 16,000 students from 90 countries to take the US-based JH-CTY test in Summer 2023 as a Grade 3 student

Preesha Chakraborty, a nine-year-old Indian-American schoolgirl from California, earned a spot on the 'world's brightest students' list by Johns Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth (JH-CTY) on Monday.

Preesha, who goes to Warm Spring Elementary in California's Fremont, was among 16,000 students from 90 countries to take the US-based JH-CTY test in the Summer of 2023 as a Grade 3 student.

The CTY Talent Search assesses the students on various tests, including the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test), ACT (American College Testing), and School and College Ability Test. Preesha was honoured for her exceptional performance in these assessments. She aced in the test's verbal and quantitative sections - on par with the 99th percentile of advanced Grade 5 performances - and bagged the Grand Honors, according to the press release.

Notably, less than 30 per cent of students each qualify for either High Honors or Grand Honors/SET based on their test scores.

This means Preesha qualifies for more than 250 JH-CTY courses. These advanced courses, spanning grades 2-12, cover a diverse range of subjects such as mathematics, computer programming, chemistry, physics, reading, and writing.

At the age of six, Preesha also earned a lifetime membership in the esteemed Mensa Foundation, the world's oldest high-IQ society.

Two Indian-Americans featured in the list in 2023

Notably, last year, then-nine-year-old Indian-American schoolgirl Samedha Saxena was featured in the distinguished list. She had taken the 2021-22 test along with 15,300 students from 76 countries, the JH-CTY results, released in February, declared. The same list had also featured Indian-American teen Natasha Perianayagam among the 'world's brightest' school students for the second consecutive year in 2023. Natasha was 13 at the time.

The Center for Talented Youth is a nonprofit organisation that is part of the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. Founded in 1979, the CTY works to identify gifted and talented students.

(With PTI inputs)