<p>OP,</p>
<p>I won’t weigh in on the question of how much publicity is appropriate under these circumstances. However, given that only 314 students out of more than 1,300,000 who took the ACT in 2007 scored a perfect 36 composite, you and your son should be justifiably proud. That is a spectacular achievement. Congratulations.</p>
<p>umm … just because i said there was no NEED for public celebration doesn’t mean that i think there’s something wrong with celebrating it … i just think that if you want it publicly celebrated because you need the fawning of your community, then you should initiate said fawning, as the ACT apparently asks you to do … not the school.</p>
<p>tetrahedr0n … that’s a valid point re: top-flight athletes. However, most of the posts seem to be representing the general trend in MOST high schools w/o an athlete of that caliber. In these conditions, athletes are still often “prioritized”, and I think that has to do with school/town pride.</p>
<p>However, you reference athletes who sign LOIs. By doing so, they put themselves apart from their peers by doing something at a level that few others do at their HS or their prospective college. However, by scoring well on a standardized test, you have done one thing that sets you apart. You sat down for part of a morning or afternoon and answered questions. You will be going to your prospective college or university because you display the requisite intellectual aptitude to succeed at said college … just like 95+% of the other students there.</p>
<p>SpacedOutSax … wow. just wow.</p>
<p>When you sit down for part of a morning, you are calling upon years of learning in order to answer the questions. It took work, skill, innate ability to get to that point & perform so well … much like the athlete. Too bad our society seems more impressed by athletic ability than intellectual. I think there is room for both.</p>
<p>Bulletandpima, my apologies. I read your post to mean that the 2400 would validate the 36. Sorry.</p>
<p>bulletandpima-since when does ND want ACT and not SAT. Son was admitted EA in Fall of 05 with SAT scores only. He was named a Reilly Scholar as well. Again, no ACT. Has this changed? (Sorry to stray off-topic!)</p>
<p>Agree. ND takes whichever. S accepted in 2006 with only SAT. Furthermore, whoever said a student must retake if he earns an 800 on a section of the SAT is incorrect. Two sons with 800s and no retakes required.</p>
<p>There’s usually an article in our local rag whenever someone makes a perfect score on either test. My D’s school also has a plaque in the front hall listing any student who received a perfect score on a section of the SAT or a perfect score on the ACT (also plaques for AP scholars and National Merit commended/semifinalist).</p>
<p>I really want to thank gbesq for those statistics - I had no idea that so few scored as well as my son did. I also thank kelsmom for her kind words also.</p>
<p>However, rightnotleft - are you kidding me when you suggest that athletes who sign a letter of intent are rarer than kids who are in a pool of 314 out of 1,300,000? Somehow their performance in their area of expertise is somehow worthier than someone who is really smart? Really good tennis player = greater value to humanity than really smart person? People show their ultimate worth over the course of their lives, through what they achieve and through how they treat people and impact the society at large. </p>
<p>I think I’d better not read anymore of these posts. My yearning for my community to fawn over me is just too strong.</p>
<p>I just have to ask - is SpacedOutSax for real, or was that sarcasm? Jerseys?Plaques? “Best accomplishment ever”? OMG.</p>
<p>no, but in terms of WHY they are noteworthy … yes.</p>
<p>Good (even great) academic accomplishments get 1000s of kids into colleges every year. Top flight schools have almost universally fantastically achieving kids. I think we are weighing standardized tests entirely too much.</p>
<p>Athletically, it is much harder to distinguish yourself into a collegiate bid. </p>
<p>If you were to compare this to SAT scores, a 2370 (or something like that, probably lower) is STATISTICALLY IDENTICAL to a 2400, but nobody celebrates those. So, honestly, I wonder how different the 35 is from a 36. I admit, i have no idea</p>
<p>“People show their ultimate worth over the course of their lives, through what they achieve and through how they treat people and impact the society at large.”</p>
<p>aaand, what value has been shown by getting a 36 on the ACT?</p>
<p>“Really good tennis player = greater value to humanity than really smart person?”</p>
<p>quite possibly. If you look at what, say, Roger Federer has done for humanity with his education and literacy efforts in Africa, I would argue is better for humanity than becoming an academic who devotes their lives to, say, researching the mating behavior of frogs.</p>
<p>As far as collegiate success, no probably not. However, having a great recruit on the football field or the basketball court at a major power school will draw a lot of money to the school, which will go, at least partially, to aiding several students attend/afford attending the university. So, yes, having that one person probably does a lot more for the university and ‘humanity’, as you call it, than having one “really smart” undergrad.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that a 36 isn’t more impressive. I’m really not.</p>
<p>However, I think we’re losing sight of the fact that your son is a HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR. Sorry. He hasn’t really accomplished anything important yet. Nor is it the best thing a kid can accomplish. You can win a humanitarian award. You can win prestigious science competitions, which OMG ONE PERSON wins out of thousands of entrants, who are already self-selected to a much higher degree than students who take the ACT. I’m just saying.</p>
<p>It is INCREDIBLY impressive. But ultimately, it’s not going to stand on its own. It’s simply one thing that will help his collegiate application. And once he’s there, he starts from scratch, even with everyone else at his new college/university. Hundreds of others will also get into this new college, and nobody will care how amazingly he did a year ago on a poorly designed test.</p>
<p>Sorry that this post is so rambling.</p>
<p>Wow. I’m surprised to see such a lack of respect for the value of intelligence on CC. Or is it that some on CC think everyone is that smart? Huh.</p>
<p>you people don’t honestly think the ACT (or any standardized test) is a true measure of intelligence, do you?</p>
<p>Everyone needs to remember schools look at the whole pic, they want the perfect ACT/SAT NHS president who plays Varsity Soccer and has held a pt job while volunteering. Most universities are looking for the kid that can juggle 3 things at 1 timw, compared to the brilliant child who has spent their life in academia.</p>
<p>I believe there is an equilibrium here, we just need to acknowledge that a perfect score isn’t the be all/get all and being a jock isn’t either</p>
<p>To succeed is not about test scores, or state champs, it is about everything else they do. The jock will not succeed in college if he is not academically on par, the smart kid who doesn’t bring his head from the books will find it just as difficult</p>
<p>The kind of reaction this thread is generating is exactly why I think it may not be the best thing to seek publicity. Getting perfect scores is a significant achievement. But the feeling of elation can dissipate very quickly when others start denigrating it–and they will, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Rightnotleft, it is A measure. In other words, it is not the only measure. It is a measure, just the same.</p>
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<p>You don’t honestly think that someone should be prouder of getting the lowest score than the highest score, do you?</p>
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<p>rightnotleft, not very. I’ll freely admit that. But I have to ask you - how different is running a 9.85 second 100 meters, versus running a 10.0? In real life terms, it’s absolutely and totally meaningless, and yet it’s everything in the world of sports. The guy who runs the 9.85 will be celebrated, while the other guy won’t make the sports page. Does this make sense? Not really, but it’s typical for us to celebrate accomplishments, whether academic, athletic, or otherwise, on the margin.</p>
<p>Dearest xiggi, first let me say that I did not feel that way before the latest scores came out…because s has been a member of Mensa since he was 5, in fact the third youngest member. He was doing trig in the first grade, so really, we are kinda used to him being smart. As for adding the hiring and firing line to the apps…I got that line from a college recruiter!!!</p>
<p>Scout 59, you bet I am real and no that was not sarcasm. I must say though that we do live in an area that values intelligence. Jocks are kinda “less than” unless they have a great transcript. Arts are valued more than sports, also.</p>
<p>Oh, I value intelligence too, but I also feel that other personality traits are just as essential to success as is academic excellence.</p>
<p>I also value integrity, wit, compassion, artistic talent, and persistence. Those qualities are valued by employers and as far as I know cannot be measured by testing. They’re also harder to brag about at the PTA or at the country club, and they’d be hard to silkscreen onto a t-shirt!</p>
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<p>really!!!
what will they outside the restroom?</p>