BHS Junior Scores Perfect 800 on SAT Math Test

Sandeep Bharadwaj was up to “the challenge.”

The junior has done what few have done before him: score a perfect 800 on the SAT II Math Level 2 subject test and an almost perfect 790 on the SAT II Chemistry subject test.

“It’s very challenging to take tests like these and get only one question wrong,” Bharadwaj said. “It makes me very happy. It makes me feel very accomplished.”

Bharadwaj, who has been in the school system since he was in first grade, knows what it’s like to feel “accomplished” because he also is an expert Indian Carnatic music violinist who has played in concerts around the world

“It’s a lot of work,” he said, referring to maintaining a 4.64 GPA while also being active in the , Scholastic Bowl and the Math Team at BHS as well as doing hospital volunteer work and raising money for the Red Cross through various ethnic organizations.

When asked how he does it all, the second ranking student in the BHS Class of 2013 likes to quote Vince Lombardi who once said, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Bharadwaj wants to be a cardiac surgeon someday.

“You need a lot of chemistry and a lot of math so I wanted to show colleges I excel in those two areas by taking these tests,” he said.

He also took the SAT I (math, reading and writing logic and reasoning) but scored a mere 2,240 out of a possible 2,400. (“I’m gonna try to do better.”) And he took the ACT for kicks tallying 34 out of a possible 36.

Bharadwaj credits his teachers for helping him get ready for the two subject tests. That and “a lot of practice on a lot of different problems.”

As for advice for future test-takers, he says, “If you have a math problem that you can’t do, don’t just sit there and think I’m not going to do it, you have to work at it and find a way to do it. And always take the opportunities given to you. I’m on the math team because it helps me further my math skills.”

By the way, if you’re interested in catching one of his violin concerts (he’s performed in 14 of them so far this year alone in the midwest, San Francisco and India) check out his website at www.sandeepbharadwaj.com.