Rockwood Junior Earns a 36 on the ACT

Benson White got the email saying his ACT scores had come in, then called his mother over before he opened the message so they could see the results together.

"It was just full green circles across the board," said White, a Lafayette High junior. "My mom flipped out. I was in shock. I didn’t even know how to react, like ‘What did I even just do?’”

White joins the fraction of 1 percent of students who have earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT. The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1-36. A student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.

He first took the test in April and scored well. His father convined him to take it again a couple months later, over the summer while the knowledge was still fresh.

To prepare, White said he tested himself over specific portions of the exam with less time than would be allotted the day of. Then, he went back and drilled down on questions he missed. He fit the majority of his studying into four days between the end of a school business class trip to New York and test day.

"I knew stress and other things would be a factor toward time," he said. "My friends and family, everyone was really happy for me and super supportive. I was very excited to tell them all about my score. I called my grandparents that afternoon and told them about it.”

White is a member of the Lafayette golf team and said his favorite subjects in school have been math classes and AP Computer Science. 

His dream postgraduate destination is Brigham Young University, and he is still narrowing down his choices for majors.

"The score gives me an edge over 99.9 percent of the people I’m competing for that spot against," he said. "I’m hoping it gets me some scholarship money and I’m able to get into the college I want to get into.”