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La Plata High School senior earns perfect ACT score

Will Alcorn is a senior at La Plata High School and one of the few who achieved perfection after taking the ACT with a composite score of 36.

LA PLATA, Md. — Each year only about 1% of students who take the ACT earn a perfect score. This year, a Maryland high schooler was one of the few. 

Will Alcorn is a senior at La Plata High School and one of the few who achieved perfection after taking the ACT with a composite score of 36. The ACT is composed of four sections, English, math, reading, and science. Each test score ranges from 1 to 36. The composite score is the average of the four test scores and are rounded to the nearest whole number. 

According to Charles County Public Schools, the latest data from 2022 showed that out of the 1.34 million who took the ACT only 3,376 students earned a perfect score. 

“Earning a top score on the ACT is a remarkable achievement,” said ACT CEO Janet Goodwin. 

Alcorn has taken the ACT four times and CCPS says he didn't do so well the first time, which he believes is due to the fact he was too well hydrated and desperately needed to use the restroom. 

“It sounds silly,” he said. 

Credit: CCPS

Alcorn advises test takers not to drink too much water the night before or morning of the test — “or else that problem arises," he said. 

The high school senior said he poured over the same ACT study book his older brother used. 

“I mainly studied some of the geometry material since I missed half of that class due to COVID and English punctuation and grammar because I was never quite good with grammar,” Alcorn said.

CCPS says Alcorn is currently ranked number one in his La Plata class and plans to attend the University of Alabama to study accounting. 

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