Wauconda High School student receives top score on ACT

A Wauconda High School student has recorded a top score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam, the first at the school to do so since the test became mandatory for juniors statewide in 2002.

Megan Mikenas, who will start her senior year in the fall, hit the mark in June. She’d actually taken the test four times earlier.

Mikenas scored a 33 while an eighth grader and Wauconda Middle School and then got three 35s during high school before reaching 36.

“I was pretty happy with (the 35s), but I knew I could do better,” Mikenas said Thursday.

The ACT covers English, math, reading and science, and colleges judge composite scores when reviewing applications.

Mikenas said she felt pretty confident about her score after taking the test this last time.

“The only section I was worried about was science,” she said. “When I got 35s in the past, that was the one that brought me down.”

Mikenas stayed up until midnight to get her score online. She first told her mom and sister, who were understandably happy for her.

Congratulatory emails came from Superintendent Daniel J. Coles and Principal Dan Klett.

Klett was on vacation when he heard of Mikenas’ score from a guidance counselor.

“I was very excited because I know she’s been trying hard to get a perfect score,” he recalled.

Mikenas wants to study math or science in college and said she is considering a long list of schools.

She also said she’s done taking the ACT test.