Teenager gets perfect scores on ACT, SAT exams

WICHITA, Kan. — A teenager has achieved a rare feat: perfect scores on the American College Testing (ACT) exam and the SAT.

Jakub Voboril, 17, a senior at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, learned in July that he had scored a 36 on his ACT, which he took in June. His perfect score, one of two in Kansas on the June test, came after he scored 32 and 34 on his first two tries.

"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."

He took the SAT the same week. Those results — 2400 — came in soon after he got his ACT scores.

Voboril comes from good genes: his two older sisters were high-school valedictorians. He hasn't settled on a college or major but has considered math, philosophy and law, possibly at the University of Notre Dame or Princeton University.

"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."

About 1.5 million students took the SAT last year, and fewer than 300 got perfect scores, according to the College Board.

No statistics are available on how many students have aced both tests, but it's a safe bet Voboril doesn't have a lot of company.

"Suffice it to say, it's a very, very small number," said Brian O'Reilly, a spokesman for the College Board, which administers the SAT.

Voboril did reveal one study tip to The Wichita Eagle: Sign up for the "Official SAT Question of the Day" at the College Board 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."