Leander ISD Student Earns Perfect ACT Score

CEDAR PARK-LEANDER, TX -- A Leander ISD student is being recognized for having aced the ACT test with a perfect score.

Vandergrift High School student Yilong Peng was formally recognized by the Leander ISD board of directors last month for the considerable accomplishment. In the last few days, district officials more widely publicized news of the perfect score on their website.

The ACT test represents a key pathway into college, as its scores are considered by every four-year college and university in the country in determining entry. It consists of 215 multiple-choice questions and takes about three hours and 30 minutes to complete--longer if taken with the writing portion.

To put Peng’s accomplishment in perspective, it’s useful to crunch the numbers.

According to PrepScholar, a perfect score on the ACT is exceedingly rare. In the latest data available, of the 1.8 million members of the Class of 2014 who took the test, only 1,407 got a perfect score.

Stated another way: Only 0.076 percent of all test takers achieved perfection.

Anything with a score of 21 and above is considered quite good, certainly above average. A score of 33 puts those students in the 99th percentile, or the top 1 percent, of all test takers.

But a perfect score? That’s in another stratosphere of test taking.

Another number to consider in all this: zero. That’s the likely number of universities who would reject Peng’s application for entry in light of his impressive academic accomplishment.