Gabriel Bolanos, a junior at Cypress Ranch High School, earned the highest possible composite score of 36 on the ACT.
According to a release by Cy-Fair ISD, fewer than half of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score.
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“To be honest, I never expected to get a top score of 36,” Bolanos said. “The months leading up to the test were hectic for me and I didn’t have many opportunities to prepare."
The ACT is a standardized entrance exam used by universities to make admissions decisions for incoming freshmen.
The exam is comprised of four sections covering English, math, reading, and science. Each section is scored on a scale of 1-36. A student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.
According to Cy-Fair ISD, only 4,879 out of nearly 1.8 million students nationwide who took the ACT in February earned a top composite score.
"I believe that what helped me the most to be successful for the ACT were the many hours I put in over the years studying for tests like the SAT and the ACT, as well as the amazing teachers that taught me knowledge and strategies that helped me during the exam. I’m also grateful for my family, especially my mom, who instilled in me the importance of having a good work ethic, self-discipline and time management skills,” Bolanos said.
Bolanos wants to become a neuroscientist and plans to major in biology or biochemistry.
Bolanos says he plans to apply to multiple universities, including Harvard, Rice and Baylor.