Memorial High school seniors David Cremins and Rajat Mehndiratta are among a select few students who scored the maximum possible score on the ACT this past year.
Annually, more than 1.8 million students take this standardized test to measure their college readiness. According to the ACT, only one tenth of 1 percent of all students testing achieve a perfect score of 36.
The ACT has tested students in English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science since 1959 when it was first given to students as an alternative to the SAT. The ACT composite score is an average of scores given for each individual subject.
During the June administration of the ACT, two other SBISD seniors earned perfect test scores. They are Stratford High senior Annie Ye and Memorial High senior Grant Kirchhofer.
Rajat Mehndiratta, who achieved a perfect score on both the ACT and the SAT, developed his own strategies and study skills for the standardized tests.
“For the SAT, I compressed all of my studying into two weeks, and studied for four hours each day; I did practice tests pretty much every day,” he said.
“Most people take a practice test every few days or once a week for months and months, but it doesn’t really help that much. I think if you compress everything down you just build up a mentality, like for example when I got ready to take the ACT I didn’t have to study all over again because I was able to retain the things I learned from my two-week cramming period.”
On the other hand, Cremins contends that earning his perfect score on the standardized test took more than one attempt.
“I took the test twice. The first time I got a good score, but it wasn’t perfect and I wanted to challenge myself. So I got tutoring and then I did four or five practice tests. Then when the day came I went in with a confident attitude and did the best I could.”The ACT is one of two standardized tests that high school juniors and seniors are encouraged to take. Both tests are designed to measure a student’s readiness for college on a standard scale that can be used by universities all over the world.
Most American colleges require the SAT or ACT to be considered for admission. Some of those schools consider scores on these tests to be as important as an applicant’s GPA.
For more information on these exams including upcoming test dates visit the following websites:
ACT: http://www.act.org/
SAT: http://sat.collegeboard.org
For information on SBISD’s SAT/ACT Prep: http://cms.springbranchisd.com/CollegeReadiness/HighSchool/TheToolkit/tabid/16795/Default.
This article was written and photographed by Communications Intern Kali Venable
That is truly amazing!!! Congratulations to both students on such a success. My daughter is planning to take her ACT test in a couple of months and is very nervous about it. I hired her an ACT prep tutor that works in my Chicago area to help her out and I am sure she would be much more motivated to hear great success stories like this!
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