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.