Fourth Edina Student Earns Perfect ACT Score

For the fourth time this school year, an Edina High School student has earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT test.

Kevin Lu, a junior at EHS, took the college placement exam for the second time in December. While he was averaging high scores on practice tests, Lu said neither he nor his parents were expecting a perfect score.

“I had a good idea going into the test of what I wanted to accomplish so I made sure to look at previous years tests and focus on those,” Lu said. “I took four different practice tests from previous years and afterwards I looked at my mistakes to keep on improving."

Lu is the fourth Edina student this year to score a perfect 36, joining seniors Lauren Groffsky, Jessica Hankes and Andrea Kimball. Kevin still isn't sure where he plans to attend college after high school, but said he will likely study either math or science when he gets there—they're his two favorite subjects.

Nationally, roughly one-tenth of one percent of students who take the ACT exam manage to boast a perfect score. That's something like 780 of the estimated 1.66 million students who took the test in 2012.

The ACT includes tests in English, math, reading and science. Tests are scored on a scale of 1-36, with the student's composite score an average of all four.

Lu had previously taken the ACT in 8th grade through Edina's NUMATS program, which offers above-grade-level testing for high-performing students in grades three through nine. Outside of academics, Kevin is active in the EHS cross country, math and robotics teams.

EHS Principal Bruce Locklear said the entire school is proud of Lu as well as "his outstanding success on the ACT test."

"Kevin’s exceptional scores indicate the hard work and dedication he has put into his education and he is a supreme example of our school community’s academic success," Locklear said.

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