NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – At Jesuit High School there’s not one, not two but three students with a perfect score on the ACT. 36 out of 36.
“The average ACT score for our school this year is 27.8, I think the state average is 20 and I think the national average is probably around 21. We do have one or two every several years or so, but it’s really hard to get a perfect score, it’s really tough,” says ACT Prep Teacher Malcolm Villarrubia.
So to have three students with a perfect score is special, and despite all of the studying and preparation, not one of them saw it coming.
“I thought maybe but, no I definitely wasn’t sure about it,” says senior Garth Cook.
“I definitely didn’t think perfect score or anything like that,” says senior Matthew Stuckey who scored a perfect 36 as a sophomore.
“There’s always like a couple of questions that you’re kind of shaky on you could go either way, so I just didn’t know if I got it perfect but I thought I did well,” says Matthew Sentilles.
They will never forget the moment they first found out. “When I got up my mom said ‘Oh, you should check the computer, the ACT scores are up’ she was kind of giddy,” says Sentilles. “I was actually asleep and my mom woke me up she rushed into my room and she was freaking out,” says Stuckey. “My mom texted me, I was excited mainly because I’m just glad to be done taking it,” says Cook.
With the test behind them, they can focus on their extracurricular activities and picking a great college.
And they assure us there’s no secret to acing the ACT, no special breakfast, just hard work and maybe just a little luck.
“Having three students get three perfect scores is of course a credit to their work, it’s also credit to the curriculum, it’s also credit to the drive the boys have here to success,” says Villarrubia.