On Feb. 20, juniors Josh Minter and Noah Siraj were enlightened with the news of a 36 on the ACT: a perfect score.

“I was on my way to school in the morning when I found out my score and it surprised me, to be completely honest,” said Josh. “ I had only started studying two days before the exam… I was not expecting a perfect score.”

Ocean Lakes continues to produce academic excellence, similar to when senior Cole Faggert and junior Noah Do achieved perfect scores on the SAT.

“Getting the perfect score was a pleasant surprise,” said Noah Siraj. “It was nice knowing that I wouldn’t have to stress about the SAT and ACT anymore.”

Students prepare in classes, which could cost hundreds of dollars, in order to score high on these tests, since most all colleges consider these scores in admission. They differ, however, in that the ACT has a science section, while the SAT focuses mainly on reading, writing, and math.

“For a few weekends, I spent a couple hours doing practice problems, identifying where I was making the most mistakes and focusing on those areas,” said Noah.