Wichita teen scores perfect on ACT, SATI bolded the above passage because I find it implausible. The ACT and SAT companies score every exam, but they can't figure out how many students received a perfect score on each? Really? You give me one day with those datasets and I will rock that shit. Then we'll see how smart Jakub really is.
BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS
The Wichita Eagle
Jakub Voboril can breathe a little easier when he fills out college applications this fall, after earning the highest possible score on not one but two major entrance exams.
"It wasn't so much a feeling of, 'Wow, I'm shocked,' because I went in thinking I could do this," said Jake, 17, a senior at Bishop Carroll High School.
"So it's just a good feeling. I'm really happy."
A letter last month from the American College Testing company told Jake he had scored a 36 on the ACT -- one of only two Kansas students to get a perfect score on the June test.
Shortly afterward, he learned he had scored a perfect 2400 on the SAT Reasoning Test, which he took the same week.
"Getting a perfect score is, in and of itself, very unusual," said Brian O'Reilly, a spokesman for the College Board, which administers the SAT. Last year, about 1.5 million students took the test, and fewer than 300 scored a 2400.
Neither the College Board nor the American College Testing company keeps statistics on how many students get a perfect score on both tests. "But suffice it to say, it's a very, very small number," O'Reilly said.
Jake's achievement is extraordinary, but not wholly unexpected. He has always done well in school, earning straight As in advanced-placement classes at Bishop Carroll, where he also participates in debate, Scholars Bowl and Science Olympiad.
In previous ACT attempts, he scored 32 and 34.
"Part of me said, 'That's good enough, you can stop there,' " he said. "But I decided to take it one more time to see what happened."
What happened was perfection, despite not feeling his best. "I get really nervous before tests, so I didn't sleep very well that night," he said.
Jake said much of his motivation comes from his family -- particularly two older sisters, Millie and Katie, who were valedictorians at Bishop Carroll and at Benedictine College in Atchison. Jake's father, Bob, is superintendent of Catholic schools in Wichita; his mother, Pam, is a school nurse at Bishop Carroll.
Bob Voboril said he's proud of his son -- but not only because of his test scores.
"We don't ever say to them, 'We expect As,' " he said. "The most important thing is not the grades they get, it's the kind of people they are. We truly believe that if you shape your kids to be good human beings, then they will naturally become good students."
Ask Jake how he earned tip-top scores on two big tests, and he doesn't have a quick answer.
"It's weird, because before I took it, I checked out a couple books from the library. I expected there to be this big secret that all the smart people had that I just had to read.
"But I found out there's not a secret formula. Obviously, you have to pay attention in classes, take classes that are going to teach you what you need to know -- that sort of thing."
Jake does, however, have one study tip: Sign up for the "Official SAT Question of the Day" at the College Board's Web site.
"They send you one question every day, right to your inbox," he said. "So you get a feel for the types of questions, but you don't have to sit down for a couple hours and take a practice test."
Jake's not sure where he'll attend college, but is considering Notre Dame and Princeton. He hasn't decided what he'll study, either, but has considered math, philosophy and law.
"Pretty much, if they have a class in something, it interests me," he said.
And call it modesty or cautious optimism, but he's not even assuming he'll be accepted to his college of choice.
"I've always had the impression that high test scores will help you very much, but you have to have more than that," he said.
"Colleges want people who are going to be leaders and who are going to give back to their community. Fortunately, I've had plenty of opportunities to do things like that."
Oh, and go to Princeton, man. Trust me. And in future photos, don't let the Virgin Mary upstage you like that.
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