My son, who is a junior, received a 36 composite score in February. He told one friend at school, who in turn told everyone LOL. Anyway, it turns out that another boy at the school also got a 36. He reached out to my son last week because he is going to be interviewed by a TV station about his score. I was kind of surprised because nobody contacted my son about this, but the boy was apparently nice enough to share the limelight. Is this typical where the media interviews kids with perfect scores? How do they find out about it…does ACT release the scores? I am confused!
S19 scored a 36 as well. ACT sent him a letter to share with his school in case the school wanted to do a press release. Maybe the other student shared his press release letter with the school?
The student’s publicist – aka a parent – perhaps reached out to the media. That’ show it has usually transpired in our community, although the publicity sought has always been for an athletic accomplishment rather than an academic one.
@mountainmomof3 we did not get any letter from ACT beyond the score report. I just googled and saw images of the letter. It looks like it is up to the parent to notify the media. Hmm, I probably would not have done so, but now my son is excited for the interview, so I guess it is a done deal.
Our daughter’s high school publishes the names and often the local news outlets will run a story.
It really doesn’t matter whether a person gets a 34 or a 36 in terms of admissions- or intelligence. Honestly, why doesn’t the local media focus on something more meaningful? Chances are your son, himself, does something more worthy of attention. I think this focus on “perfect score” is unhealthy. Hard work. motivation and character are what drive success, ultimately, not scores.
A perfect act score can get you nominated as a presidential scholar - I would pursue that for my child. My daughter had a friend who got a 36 and was a presidential scholar. https://www2.ed.gov/programs/psp/about.html
Depends on what area you live in. I live in a very large county with dense population so we will get a good amount of perfect scores. They don’t make news here but I could see a school in a smaller county reaching out to media.
My son scored a 36 on the exam last October. We received a letter from the ACT people asking for our consent to release the info to the local media. We decided not release the info. Didn’t see any need for it.
Heh, @turtletime I live in a large county with a dense population but around where I live the population is dense in the other meaning of the word. A 36 ACT would make the news just because it would be such a shock. Our guidance counselor was incredibly proud of my kid’s 32, which gives you an idea of the averages in our area of the county…
@compmom I imagine the OP’s student is like mine. S19 prepped to get a solid score to have a chance at some merit opportunities. He felt prepared and rested test day and ended up one and done with a 36. A 36 was not even on his radar. S19 didn’t want to discuss with the school or want any attention but that is what works for him. I don’t begrudge what others choose to do. Our local newspaper often covers HS sports and note when kids have an awesome game. IMHO why isn’t it then okay to note when someone has “knocked it out of the park” academically?
@WineLover - maybe contact ACT and ask if a letter was sent? Even if you choose not to do anything with it, it is nice for the kids to keep as it spells out the stats of achieving that score.
What is really strange is one of our local stations ran a story about an Arizona kid with a 36 when there are probably hundreds in California.
A perfect score is nice, but it is hardly news worthy, in my opinion.
It’s nice that some who got a perfect score don’t see any need to publicize it. Schools might want to encourage publicity because it makes them look good 
For some reason- even though clearly the OP’s son worked hard outside of school.
I just think it is destructive to celebrate that particular accomplishment as meaningful. CC is full of posts asking if a student should retake (there is one on the Harvard thread right now, a kid who got a 34). There is, for some, a peculiar perfectionism going on where they have a 35 and keep retaking!
And the idea that there is some kind of hierarchy of intelligence, that a kid with a 36 is “smarter”, is also misguided.
It is important for kids-and parents- to realize that the difference between 34 and 36 is negligible even in elite admissions. Once you meet a benchmark, it is all about other things, in terms of admissions, and spending a lot of time prepping and trying to get a 36 or a 35 or whatever is really taking away from those “other things,” which one hopes would be genuine interests.
The OP’s son only took it once so not really relevant to him, but so many kids get great scores and think they need to keep trying for perfection, that I think publicity could exacerbate that…Much better to stop prepping and retaking and doing art or music or service or just hanging out with friends.
I’m sure this may seem like overthinking it but I have seen problems with this on this forum and in real life. It’s just a test.
It seems this should bring more publicity than say the newspaper having articles that the tennis team or the baseball team won. Our school advertised on their website the baseball teams victory but no mention of the seniors academic scholars in our district that took 3.5 years to attain this award.
Thanks everyone for your insights. My son did do some prep to get that score…and yes it was the one and only time he took the test. The first time he took a mock test in summer as a rising junior, he got a 33. He worked on some prep with a tutor and took two more mock tests and got a 34 and then a 35. At that point, the tutor thought he had a good shot at a 36. My son said the day of the actual test that he thought it was the “easiest ACT he ever took” LOL. I think all the prep did pay off, and while I don’t think of anyone with a lower score as less intelligent than my son, I still consider it to be a pretty significant accomplishment because it required hard work. I do realize that some people frown upon those who spend time and money on overly prepping for these exams, but I really don’t see a problem with it. Students spend lots of time prepping for tests and final exams. As far as the media is concerned, it is not something I would have pursued, but it seems somebody else has already started the ball rolling, so we’re just going to roll with it!
I think it would be a great service to the public by the journalists who can highlight the disconnect between the public perception of a ACT 36 and how it is viewed in the context of elite college admissions. So many parents and kids still think a 36 is a golden ticket to selective college these days and that myth just needs to be dispelled.
I’m not a social media or a search engine optimization expert but think about this:
Whenever someone “googles” him, this will pop up. That is a good thing to follow you for quite a few years.
@compmom, respectfully, I do not agree with you. A 34 is not a 36. A 36 only shows that the student has maxed out and may have even more potential to excel beyond what is tested on the ACT. We celebrate athletes when they tie or break records, but when it comes to academics, it is for some reason politically incorrect to celebrate their achievements. Let these kids have their moments…they worked hard for these achievements and should be recognized!
There may not be a correlation between a 34 and a 36 in “smartness” but it can certainly lead to higher scholarships, which may be reason enough to want a higher score. A 36, according to the ACT letter is made by less than 1% of the people who take it, I think it is a fraction of 1%, less than 3000 students a year - so it’s rare, regardless of where you live.
It’s always amazing to me that we can talk about great tennis players, play performances, dance recitals - but when a person is an academic “athlete” it’s bragging to say so. I really don’t see it as any different - it’s a talent.
As for “continually prepping” to get that 36 - that also is a presumption. My DS was content with his 34 - but the school registered him and made him take it again - which resulted in the 36, no prep. I do believe a student on any given day could get that 36 when the stars align just right. In our case, it added about $40k in scholarship to the school he is attending - so if he’d had to “prep” it would have been a pretty large hourly rate.