Lemont Teen Earns Perfect Score Of 36 On ACT

LEMONT, IL – A Lemont teen has achieved a perfect score on a recent ACT exam. Kyle Kohn, a junior at Marist High School in Chicago, got the highest score possible of 36. On average, less than one-tenth of one percent of students who take the ACT earns the top score. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2017, only 2,760 out of more than 2 million graduates who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36.

Kohn is a member of academic and math teams, National Honor Society, and the lacrosse team. He also participated with Marist young adults on a trip to bring clean drinking water to the Dominican Republic in partnership with Blue Missions. He took an ACT prep course during the first semester of his junior year. While he anticipated scoring in the thirties on the test, he was shocked and excited when he learned of his top score. Only a junior, he is considering Northwestern University, Emory University and the University of Notre Dame. He is considering pursuing a career in psychology.

The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and a student's composite score is the average of the four test scores. Some students also take ACT’s optional writing test, but the score for that test is reported separately and is not included within the ACT composite score. ACT test scores are accepted by all major U.S. colleges. Exceptional scores of 36 provide colleges with evidence of student readiness for the academic rigors that lie ahead.

Marist offers test preparation classes on campus for all standardized tests, along with a strong curriculum that readies students for exam content. Fellow Marist junior Jack Molenhouse, of Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood, also scored a perfect 36 on the ACT. Other recent graduates who scored 36 include Ed Stifter ’19, Samanatha Reidy ’18, Becca Valek ’17, Jason Phelan ’16, Andrew Lynch ’10 and Peter O’Malley ’04.