Two Delaware Hayes High School juniors recently earned perfect scores on their ACT exams, the first students in the district to do so in more than a decade.
Aaron Koehler and Dominic Hupp both said they had taken the ACT before they took it last month and weren’t nervous going in.
“I didn’t prepare,” Hupp laughed, explaining that he had done lots of preparation prior to taking the test for the first time, which resulted in a score of 34 — two points shy of perfection. “This one for me, wasn’t that serious. I would have been happy with a 34.”
Koehler had also taken the ACT before and had also scored a 34 on his first go-around.
“I didn’t do much preparation,” Koehler said. “I think the reason I did well was I was relaxed. I was just ready. My goal was to get a 36, and I was going to do the best I could.”
Hupp said he was shocked when he found out he got a 36 — a perfect score.
“I was quite literally the definition of the word speechless,” he said. “It’s relieving in the sense that we never have to take it again to get a better score. The difference between a 34 and 36 in terms of getting into colleges made it worth getting.”
Koehler said he was “super relieved” after waiting weeks to get the score.
Hupp said ACT sent him a letter reporting that only 4,000 students out of 1.9 million got perfect scores. Hupp said the school district also reached out to congratulate him and Koehler for being the first students to do so in more than a decade.
“I don’t think I realized how rare it was until (the district) said that and we saw the numbers from ACT,” Hupp said.
Koehler added he was confused by the recognition he’s received since the test.
“When I got the 34 nothing mattered and no one cared,” Koehler said. “But now, two points higher, I’ve had so many people (stop me in the hallway.) I know I’ve got other steps ahead of me — AP tests, getting good grades — but the 36 is in the bag.”
Koehler said he’s hoping to study engineering after graduation, but he’s also considering medicine or a combination of the two in a field like bioengineering.
Hupp said he has his sights set on some type of engineering, either electrical or mechanical, or a degree in computer science.
