The first time Arapahoe High School student Bridget Louis took
the ACT, she did well. The second time, she did something
extraordinary.
Louis became one of only 11 students in Colorado to achieve a
perfect score of 36. She had already earned a 33 on her first
attempt, so when she took the college entrance exam again on April
8, it was a mere formality.
“I was really, really relaxed going into the second one. The
pressure was off,” said Louis, who is now a senior.
The Colorado State Board of Education will honor Louis and the
other 10 ace testers Nov. 10 during a luncheon at the Hyatt
Regional Hotel in downtown Denver.
AHS as a school does fairly well on the ACT, with an average
student score of about 24. That’s in the 75th percentile of all
test-takers nationwide. Even among such accomplished company,
Louis’ score stands out – of the 1.6 million students in the United
States who completed the exam in 2007, only 704 scored a 36,
according to ACT, Inc.
“It’s pretty extraordinary, to be one of 11 students in the
state to do that,” AHS guidance counselor Scott Wadsworth said.
“It’s quite an achievement.”
The ACT is the favored college entrance exam of western states,
while the SAT reigns on the east coast. It’s divided into four
sections for science, math, reading comprehension and English, in
additional to an optional writing portion. Most eleventh-graders in
Colorado are required to take the test.
Louis attributes her success to being a dedicated all-around
student. She does her best every day, not just in the weeks that
led up to the ACT. She did work through an ACT-prep textbook, but
she says the biggest contributors to her perfect score were being
relaxed and studying hard year-round.
“I think that did the most to prepare,” she said.
Louis, who is also an accomplished swimmer and owns a weighted
grade point average above 4.0, is still in the process of applying
for college. She prefers a small Christian college, and among her
top choices are Whitworth University in Washington and Calvin
College in Michigan. She plans to study chemistry or nursing.
