DeBakey HS senior proves his ‘college readiness’ by acing both the ACT and the SAT

Three other HISD students also earn perfect scores on college-readiness tests this year

From left, Zachary Kordum, Connor Burwell, Camille Potts, and Claudia Heymach

From left, Zachary Kortum, Connor Burwell, Camille Potts, and Claudia Heymach

Zachary Kortum, a senior at the DeBakey HS for Health Professions, cemented his status as “college-ready” this year by bringing home perfect scores on both the ACT and the SAT.

“I was very excited and surprised to find out that I’d scored so well,” said Zachary. “My parents bought me two prep books, and I worked through those outside of school, but DeBakey did a lot to help me get ready for the tests, too. The great Advanced Placement classes I took really prepared me, and the school offered a practice SAT before the real test.”

Three other HISD students also earned perfect scores on either the ACT or SAT this year. Claudia Heymach, a senior at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, earned a perfect score on the SAT.

“I felt pretty good going into the test,” said Claudia. “I took a couple of review tests to see where I struggled, so I could work on those sections. I didn’t expect to get a perfect score, but I felt fairly confident after the test.”

Carnegie Vanguard High School classmates Connor Burwell and Camille Potts, meanwhile, both received the highest possible score on the ACT, despite going into the experience fairly unprepared.

“I didn’t know a whole lot about the ACT before going into the testing room,” explained Connor, “but I liked it much more. It doesn’t seem to try to trick you like the SAT does, and the questions are very straightforward.”

“I walked into the testing center ready to fail,” added Camille, “but I highly recommend everyone try the ACT now — even if they are fairly happy with their SAT scores — because you never know how well you might do.”

More than 1,845,000 members of America’s Class of 2014 took the ACT, and of those, only 1,407 — or less than one-tenth of one percent — earned the top score of 36. About 1.6 million students in the U.S. take the SAT each year, and only about 360 of them earn the top score of 2400.