10/6/2008 3:05:00 PM Wayzata students ace ACT, PSAT
Taking the PSAT
While the ACT and the SAT are administered several times a year by their own respective independent organizations, state high schools offer the PSAT once a year in the fall.
In previous years at Wayzata High School, the PSAT was administered on a Saturday morning, but this year school staff decided to give the test during a school day with the hope that more students will take the exam.
The PSAT will be given in the high school gymnasium on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 15. Students are urged to register in advance at a cost of $20. Some students will be allowed to register on the day of the exam at a cost of $25; however, those spaces will be limited.
Traditionally, juniors take the PSAT in preparation for the SAT and ACT. Students in other grades can take the test as well.
Two Wayzata High School students have accomplished an impressive feat: they have earned a perfect score on a standardized test.
Anton Strezhnev earned all 240 points on the PSAT. Noah Rosenthal scored 36 out of 36 on the ACT. Both students are seniors this year.
Strezhnev has known about his perfect score for several months; he took the exam a year ago.
Recently, however, this score has come into play. The PSAT, which is designed as a practice test for juniors gearing up to take the SAT and ACT, is also the first hurdle to gaining a National Merit Scholarship.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp. uses PSAT scores as a first-round eliminator in its scholarship application process. Students who do not take the test can not apply for its scholarship funds.
Completion of the exam doesn't cement an automatic application either. Once scores have been awarded, the organization then decides what the cut off will be based on a curve. Only students whose scores are in the top .5 percent will be allowed to apply.
Since Strezhnev earned a perfect score, his entrance into the National Merit Scholarship Program was practically a guarantee. Indeed, he has been named a semi-finalist. Before he can win a National Merit Scholarship, though, he must complete additional steps like writing and essay and submitting his transcripts.
Finalists will be named this winter. Fourteen Wayzata students earned PSAT scores high enough to warrant the designation of semi-finalist this year.
Strezhnev admitted he was surprised when he learned of his perfect score. "I would have thought I would have gotten a point knocked off somewhere," he said.
Yet he admitted that his score came as a relief. Strezhnev actually took the PSAT twice. He was a sophomore the first time he took the exam and scored 237.
"I felt pressure going into it the second time. What if I didn't score better than I did as a sophomore? That would be disappointing," he said.
Luckily he came out on top. He even managed to prove that his perfect PSAT score wasn't a fluke by going on to score one point shy of a perfect ACT test. He also scored high on the SAT. His parents are "overjoyed," he said. "They are very happy, very pleased."
Strezhnev has yet to decide where he will go to college, preferring instead to play the scholarship game.
Beyond the National Merit Scholarship he hopes to win, he has also applied for a couple full-ride scholarships. "I think that this score will open doors for me financially," he said.
Strezhnev rattled off the top schools on his list: Stanford, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Emory and Georgetown. He is also considering Carlton College in Northfield.
He hasn't named a major yet, but has entertained some ideas.
"I'd really like to pursue a degree in political science or philosophy. I like philosophy. I appreciate the idea of thinking as an art form. I like the idea of changing mind frames."
He would also consider a career in international business. Strezhnev's interest in international policies is a direct outgrowth from his family life: His parents are Russian and his father worked a translator for the United Nations.
Noah Rosenthal is also considering several universities. With a perfect ACT score of 36 points, Rosenthal has put schools like Harvard, Yale and Northwestern on his list.
His top choice, however, is the University of Pennsylvania; he wants an economics or finance degree from the respected Wharton School of Business. "Their students go on to successful careers in business, and that's what I want," Rosenthal said.
Like Strezhnev, Rosenthal was surprised with his perfect test score. "My goal was a score of 35. I would have been happy with a 34. I figured that was good enough to get into college," he said without a hint of irony or sarcasm. Clearly, this young man has high expectations for himself.
His parents were happy, he said, with his performance. His four younger siblings, however, might not be. He has set the bar quite high with this perfect score.
"I found out what my ACT score was right before I took the SAT," he said. "It relieved a lot of pressure because I felt like I didn't have to score as high on that test." Nonetheless, Rosenthal did pull in an impressive 2310 out of 2400 on the SAT.
Rosenthal hopes his perfect ACT test score will open doors on his college wish list.
"My score makes the application process a little more comfortable," he said. He has taken this opportunity to apply for early admission to several schools and hopes to know exactly where he'll be attending university by Christmas break.
Rosenthal isn't relying solely on his high test scores to get him into college. His high school transcript is filled with classes from the Advanced Placement (AP) roster. Plus, he participates in numerous extracurricular activities like debate, speech, Quiz Bowl, DECA and Knowledge Master Open.
Rosenthal has also helped freshmen transition into the high school as a Link Leader. "I feel like I sacrifice every weekend to activities," he said.
Neither of the boys spent much time preparing for the standardized exams.
Strezhnev did take the PSAT as a sophomore to get a feel for the test, and Rosenthal did work through an ACT study guide. He did so, however, on a car trip while going to visit colleges.
Instead, both Strezhnev and Rosenthal credit their in-school course work as the real preparation for the exams. Both are enrolled in the district's AP program.
Sue Iverson is the coordinator of the high school's Vision 21 program, which is the district's gifted and talented program. She is also the coordinator of the high school's Advanced Placement (AP) program.
"I wasn't surprised at all when I learned who got these perfect scores," Iverson said. She has advised both students in their curriculum decisions since early on in their high school careers.
"Both of these boys are very grounded. I think they each have a very good grasp of their natural intelligence and what they are capable of achieving. They trust their base and have a real thirst for knowledge," she said.
This isn't the first time a Wayzata student has pulled a perfect score on the ACT test, Iverson said. However, it is the first time in her six-year tenure as the Vision 21 coordinator that a Wayzata student has earned 100 percent on the PSAT.
