Oct 23, 2006 7:49 pm US/Central
Three Whitney Young Seniors Ace ACT Exam
by Joanie Lum
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
You've heard that old phrase nobody's perfect? Well, don't tell that to three seniors at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago -- they aced the ACT exam.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports they have a lot more in common than smarts.
Herman Van Besien, Michael Borisov and Anthony Jiang each earned a perfect score of 36 on their ACT exam. They say the college entrance achievement test wasn't that hard, but they were all surprised at their flawless results.
"I didn't expect a 36. I'm happy with it," Jiang said.
"Going online and seeing that 36 was a shock. I had to look at it twice," Borisov said.
"I was pretty happy. I couldn't wait to tell my parents," Van Besien said.
The boys plan to apply to the top colleges. Yale, Duke, Columbia University in New York for Jiang. University of Chicago, MIT and Cal Tech for Borisov and University of Chicago and Princeton for Van Besien.
The three grew up within blocks of each other in the Little Italy neighborhood. They've shared the same homeroom since 7th grade when they started Whitney Young, which is known for producing excellence.
Best of all, they each display humility and say their classmates are just as talented.
"There's a lot of people here who got a 35 or 34," Borisov said.
"We all have a similar goal, to be successful. If we can help each other, so much the better," Jiang said.
"I feel like a lot of people could get that score, we just had good days," Van Besien said.
Even though they got perfect 36's, all three say that's not a free pass to the college of their choice. It's just one factor to the college entrance process.
The average ACT test score is about 20 or 21. At Whitney Young, the average is 26.2.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Get breaking news alerts
Juvenile Detention Staffers Face Crackdown 15 mins ago
Stumble It!
