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Two Juniors Earn Top ACT Score

Sam Erlinger '12 and Danny Millar '12 recently earned a top score of 36 on the ACT.  Twenty-two Jr. Billikens have now achieved this feat since 2005.

Erlinger, a member of the swimming and water polo teams, says he completed several practice tests in preparation for the ACT.  He had taken the test once before and scored a 33.

He learned about his top score on the commute to school one day.  “I got a call from my mom who proceeds to ask ‘What do you have to say for yourself?’” he says.  “To be honest, my first thought was that I was in trouble for something.”

After she told him he had scored a 36, including a 36 on all of the subsections, he says he was “elated.”

“I was definitely surprised in the sense that I had really earned a perfect score, especially across all the subsections,” says Erlinger.  “I had to check for myself once I got to school to verify it actually happened.”

Erlinger wants to major in a science, possibly biology, and then go to medical school.  Some of his colleges of interest include Stanford, Duke, MIT and Princeton.

When Millar learned he had earned a 36, he says he “jumped in the air and started shouting.”  It was his first attempt taking the ACT.  He says, “The first thing I had said when I left the testing room was ‘I just got a 36,’ but actually seeing it felt incredible.”

Millar is a member of the varsity ultimate frisbee team and is interested in starting a book/poetry club.  He would like to study economics and perhaps political science in college, though he is undecided about where he may go.

“I had made a bet with my mom about going to Stanford's Summer College program if I got the perfect score so I was extremely excited,” says Millar, who took an online ACT course to help him prepare for the test.

Since 2005, the following scholars have earned top ACT scores:

• Matt Ampleman '06
• Paul Barker '05
• John R. Berger '09
• Ben Minden-Birkenmaier '10
• Kevin Buettner '11
• Sam Erlinger '12
• Matt Genova '11
• Rob Golterman '10
• Luke Hellwig '11
• John Lewis '11
• Michael Lumetta '11
• Bobby Lux '11
• Timo Kim '06
• Micah Manary '07
• Danny Millar ‘12
• Andrew Schroeder '06
• Frank Schumacher '10
• Stephen Schumacher '08
• Todd Swift '07
• Mark Waterman '09
• Joel Westwood '06
• Kevin Wright '09