Getting a perfect score of 36 on the American College Test (ACT), is incredibly rare, and only about 0.25% of students achieved this in 2023, but Beachwood’s very own Anna Zhao was one of the select group of students who were able to do so when she sat for the test in February.
It was her first time taking the test.
“I was shocked that it was a perfect score,” she said.
The ACT is a test high school juniors and seniors take to assess college readiness levels. The test contains four multiple-choice sections consisting of English, Math, Reading and Science.
Zhao is a senior and moved to Beachwood the summer before her sophomore year. Before moving to Beachwood she lived in Nashville, Tennessee where she attended Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School.
For me it was important to do a lot of practice problems because for the most part you know how to do the questions and understand the concepts, but you need to have practice applying it to ACT specific type questions.
— Senior Anna Zhao
Outside of school, Zhao enjoys a variety of activities.
“I like to play soccer, I like to read, and I like to hang out with my friends,” she said.
Zhao was able to balance all her extracurricular activities, school work and personal life with studying for the ACT.
She followed a careful plan to prepare.
“I studied for two months before my test,” she said. “Every week I would read a chapter, and I printed out a bunch of practice tests and completed those leading up to the test.”
“I didn’t have a tutor, but my older brother helped me,” she added.
Zhao advises other students not to get anxious about college entrance exams.
“Don’t stress too much over it,” she said.
Zhao added helpful tips for those studying.
“For me it was important to do a lot of practice problems because for the most part you know how to do the questions and understand the concepts, but you need to have practice applying it to ACT specific type questions,” she said. “Start preparing early.”
Although Zhao is proud of her score, she doesn’t think it will make or break her college application decisions.
“I think my score will definitely help, but I don’t know if there is that much of a difference between a 35 and a 36,” she said
In addition to a perfect ACT score, Zhao’s high score on her Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) allowed her to qualify as a National Merit Commended Scholar.
There are three levels for the National Merit Scholarship: Commended Scholars, Semifinalists and Finalists.
“It is based off your junior year PSAT score,” Zhao said.
She was not surprised to receive news of her commendation.
“I kind of knew I would be a commended scholar because you can search up the past year’s scores and I kind of knew that I would qualify,” she said. “It was still a little surprising because it changes every year, so you are never sure.”
