Notre Dame senior scores perfect 36 on the ACT

Claire Southard, daughter of Steve and Julie Southard and a senior at Notre Dame Regional High School, earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36, the school announced Thursday.

Southard also achieved a perfect score of 36 in each subject area: English, mathematics, reading and science.

The score for ACT’s optional writing test is reported separately and not included within the composite score, according to a news release.

Fewer than half of 1% of students who take the ACT earn a top score, according to the release. In the 2019 United States high school graduating class, 4,879 out of nearly 1.8 million students who took the ACT earned a top composite score of 36.

In a letter to the student recognizing this exceptional achievement, ACT CEO Marten Roorda stated, “Your achievement on the ACT is significant and rare. Your exceptional scores will provide any college or university with ample evidence of your readiness for the academic rigors that lie ahead.”

The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement exam that measures what students have learned in school.

ACT scores are accepted by all major four-year colleges and universities across the United States.