A perfect 1600
Christine Carrillo
Jon Wolfe took the test cold. He wanted to see how well he’d do.
Vivian Liu had a little help preparing. She took the test for the
second time.
The two students, juniors at Corona del Mar High School, hammered
out 1600s on the SAT exam this year, excelling beyond their
expectations and conquering the feared SAT beast.
The two 16-year-olds can now coast into their senior years without
worrying about the test. Why ruin a good thing?
“When I saw my score, I was really happy, but I didn’t know how to
react,” Vivian said. “My family couldn’t believe it. I had to tell my
mom four times.”
After the news sunk in, the students, their families and friends
had some time to reflect on their academic achievement, an
achievement that less than 0.05% of students received nationwide last
year.
In 2002, one in 2,156 students received the top score nationwide.
Out of 168,847 college-bound students in California, 75 students
earned a 1600 on the SAT test in 2002.
“I just think that’s a great, great thing for those two kids,”
said Jaime Castellanos, assistant superintendent of secondary
education for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. “I think it’s
an amazing feat.”
While Vivian and Jon were the only two students in the
Newport-Mesa Unified School District to earn this top score, they
weren’t the only two students in the Newport-Mesa area.
Katrina Redelsheimer, who just finished her junior year at Sage
Hill School in Newport Coast, also scored a 1600 on the SAT exam.
Katrina was unavailable for an interview because she was visiting the
U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Vivian and Jon, both advanced placement and honors students, admit
that they’ve always had an affinity for taking tests. That, along
with a confident and stress-free attitude, helped them get the
perfect 800 verbal and 800 math scores.
“I think it’s kind of hard to put your finger on why some kids
score higher than others,” Castellanos said. “I tend to think that if
you have a good, well-rounded, challenging program ... and [the
students] go in relaxed and really know how to go at the questions
well.
“It does give you a little bit of insight to what the tests are
looking for,” he said. “I think it’s just one of those things ... a
challenge they have to be willing to take on.”
For Jon, his thoughts on their educational feat are simple: “It’s
something kind of cool that happened.”
* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)
574-4268 or by e-mail at christine.carrillo@latimes.com.
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