ACT Perfection

Divya Murali

Divya Murali, WTV Staff Reporter

According to CollegeBoard, only 8 percent of all test-takers receive a 36, the highest score possible, on the ACT.

Among that .08 percent: seniors Prateek Sangineni and Ethan Kim.

I was really surprised, my mom was very surprised,” Sangineni said. “I kept checking it throughout the day to make sure it was actually a 36 and not some glitch in the system.”  

A 36 wasn’t something Kim was expecting either.

“When I first saw my score, obviously because I didn’t feel very prepared going into the test and then when I told my parents they were equally as surprised, in fact they were probably more surprised,” Kim said.

A 36 is the highest score a student can get on the test, but that’s not the same as a perfect score.

Test administrators average the individual sections together so students may miss a few questions and still be able to achieve a perfect score.

Although Sangineni and Kim received the same score, they prepared in different ways.

“I actually go to KD College Prep in Plano, and I was actually preparing for the SAT but my instructor told me to try the ACT, so I took a practice test and did fairly well.”

“I didn’t really do much for it,” Kim said. “I was really busy with like tennis, orchestra, and school work so I didn’t get a lot of time to study but the time I did get I focused really hard on the questions I was working on.”