MOUNT GREENWOOD — Marist High School's Samantha Reidy earned a top composite score of 36 on a recent ACT test.
Reidy, a senior from suburban Palos Heights, is the fifth Marist student in the past 13 years to receive the top score. She is only the second girl from the school at 4200 W. 115th St. to earn a 36 on the exam.
Last year, Beverly's Rebecca Valek became the first Marist girl to score a 36 on the ACT test.
On average, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn the top score. Among test takers in the high school graduating class of 2014, only 1,407 of nearly 1.85 million students earned a composite score of 36.
Reidy took the exam six or seven times with the goal of attaining a 36.
She also has a full schedule of Advanced Placement courses and participates in National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, basketball, volleyball and Marist's math team — the top Catholic school team in the state and fifth overall.
Reidy is considering attending the University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Colorado School of Mines and the California Institute of Technology. She hopes to pursue a degree in chemical or biomedical engineering.
The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and a student's composite score is the average of the four test scores. Some students also take the ACT’s optional writing test, but the score for that test is reported separately and is not included within the ACT composite score.
ACT test scores are accepted by all major U.S. colleges. Marist offers test preparation classes on campus. Other recent graduates who scored 36 include Jason Phelan ’16, Andrew Lynch ’10, and Peter O’Malley ’04.
