Conant students achieve perfect scores on ACT exam, Schaumburg student scores perfect SAT exam

At its Sept. 18, meeting, the Board of Education honored four High School District 211 students for achieving a 36, the highest possible composite score, on the ACT exam. Additionally, one student from Schaumburg High School earned a perfect score on the SAT exam.

The four students are all from Conant High School, and include Glenn Huang, Kevin Chang, Reema Patel and Caitlin Eder. This is Huang's second time scoring a 36 on the exam. Schaumburg High School student Melissa Tran earned a perfect score on her SAT exam, and was previously honored by the Board of Education for earning a 36 on her ACT.

"The perfect score on the ACT and SAT, the 2400 and 36, they are just pedestals that you never think you will reach," Tran said. "When I scored the 36, I didn't think I actually did and thought it was a mistake. When I told my mom, I started shouting and she started shouting too. It was a lot of excitement and it is definitely a comfort to not worry about what I could have done better on."

The ACT, which is taken by nearly 60 percent of America's college-bound students as well as all junior students in Illinois as part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination, is comprised of tests in English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. Less than one-tenth of one percent of students earns a perfect score.

Additionally, Tran is the eighth student to earn this distinction since 2008. District 211 began tracking perfect SAT scores in 1998. Each year the SAT is taken by nearly three million students, and one in every 5,000 achieve the highest possible composite score.

Each ACT test is scored on scale of one-36, and a student's score is the average of the four test scores. On average, less than one-tenth of one percent of all ACT test takers earns a top score. Out of more than 1.8 millions students who took the ACT in the class of 2013, just 1,162 students got a score of 36.

Since 1998, 66 High School District 211 students have earned a top score of 36 on the ACT, including seven students who have done it twice.

Tran said students preparing for both the ACT and SAT tests should utilize practice tests that are available online. She also encouraged test takers to pace themselves when taking the exam.

"Try to understand what the people who are making the test, the questions makers, what they are thinking," she said. "The best part of preparation was taking the practice tests. Even if you understand the concepts of what they are testing you on, if you don't understand the way they want you to apply it, it wont help much. Also try to pace yourself and work as efficiently as you can."

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