Two North Atlanta High School Seniors Achieve Perfect ACT Scores

By: Alicia Sands Lurry

What do you get when you combine a dash of hard work and preparation with a sprinkling of self-confidence and extraordinary intelligence?

If you ask North Atlanta High School seniors Richard Hill and Mitchell Hebner, you get a recipe for a perfect ACT score. Both students have earned a perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT, becoming the only students in North Atlanta’s Class of 2018 to achieve this distinction for their exceptional performance on the ACT test.

Described by Principal Curtis Douglass as hardworking and conscientious, Richard and Mitchell now join the top 1 percent of students in the country to score a 33 or higher on the ACT. And for those who earn a perfect score of 36, the accomplishment is even rarer. Only 2,760, or 0.136 percent, of test takers achieve perfect scores.

For both Mitchell and Richard, earning a perfect ACT score is a testament to great test-taking skills, confidence, hard work and preparation.

“I really work hard to do well in school,” said Mitchell, who scored a 33 the first time he took the test before earning a perfect score. “I just wanted to do my best on the ACT. I worked on my speed the second time around, but I didn’t study or prepare for the ACT because I didn’t think studying would help. My goal was to finish the test and once I finished it, I knew I had done well.”

Richard admits he was a bit surprised to receive a perfect score on the ACT. Although he earned a 34 and 36 on practice and mock tests, he continued to prepare until he could answer questions as quickly and accurately as possible.

“My goal wasn’t to get a perfect score,” said Richard, a National Merit semifinalist and STAR student, who has the highest grade-point average of 102.3 in his graduating class. “I just wanted to do my best, and it feels very good. Getting a perfect score opens the door to my future with colleges and the type of scholarships I can earn.”