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03-29-2005, 01:17 PM
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Delone student records perfect score on SAT
By SARAH MAUSOLF
Evening Sun Reporter
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 -
Teens are willing to do some crazy things to ace the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
In the 2004 movie "The Perfect Score," a posse of students steals the answers to the exam.
Other teens resort to more drastic tactics like studying.
Last June, Hanover resident Cate Shultis earned the perfect score without breaking open special books or even breaking and entering.
As a result, the Delone Catholic High School senior is being courted by a stable of colleges and universities.
At 8 on the morning of the test, Shultis arrived at York Suburban High School armed with a No. 2 pencil and a calculator.
She was calm, although her preparation had been basic: A good night's sleep and "actually eating breakfast for a change."
Three hours later, she finished wrestling with the reading comprehension section and breezing through the math questions.
"Math is so much easier for me because it's so straightforward," she said. "Everything is black and white. You know 2 + 2 = 4."
About three weeks later, she looked up her score online and was stunned to see it - 1600. The perfect score.
"I didn't believe it. I thought the computer had made a mistake," she said.
After a phone message recorded by the testing service and a conversation with a testing official confirmed her score, the accomplishment began to sink in.
"I was pretty excited and pretty happy," Shultis said. "I think the first thing that went through my mind was, 'I don't have to take them again in the fall.'"
In recent months, colleges have been cozying up to the 17-year-old. She won the Wimmer Scholarship Competition at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, a four-year scholarship valued at $84,000. And she netted scholarships to Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., and Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.
Of course, it helps that Shultis is a valedictorian hopeful with a bushel of after-school activities. She keeps busy editing her school newspaper, tutoring Spanish, lobbying against abortion and serving as a historian for her church, St. Vincent De Paul in Hanover. She previously served as co-captain of the debate team and as a student council representative.
In the future, Shultis envisions becoming a pro-life activist and working for the United Nations or the federal government.
She's considering four colleges: Villanova near Philadelphia, Loyola in Baltimore, Md., The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Franciscan University.
Many teens abide by a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to their SAT scores. Still, the numbers sometimes leak out - and can lead to hard feelings. Shultis said that wasn't the case for her.
"I think everybody's happy for me. I don't know anyone who was jealous or got upset about it or anything. But it definitely is a secretive thing. People don't like to talk about it unless it's brought up."
Contact Sarah Mausolf at smausolf@eveningsun.com .
Delone student records perfect score on SAT
By SARAH MAUSOLF
Evening Sun Reporter
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 -
Teens are willing to do some crazy things to ace the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
In the 2004 movie "The Perfect Score," a posse of students steals the answers to the exam.
Other teens resort to more drastic tactics like studying.
Last June, Hanover resident Cate Shultis earned the perfect score without breaking open special books or even breaking and entering.
As a result, the Delone Catholic High School senior is being courted by a stable of colleges and universities.
At 8 on the morning of the test, Shultis arrived at York Suburban High School armed with a No. 2 pencil and a calculator.
She was calm, although her preparation had been basic: A good night's sleep and "actually eating breakfast for a change."
Three hours later, she finished wrestling with the reading comprehension section and breezing through the math questions.
"Math is so much easier for me because it's so straightforward," she said. "Everything is black and white. You know 2 + 2 = 4."
About three weeks later, she looked up her score online and was stunned to see it - 1600. The perfect score.
"I didn't believe it. I thought the computer had made a mistake," she said.
After a phone message recorded by the testing service and a conversation with a testing official confirmed her score, the accomplishment began to sink in.
"I was pretty excited and pretty happy," Shultis said. "I think the first thing that went through my mind was, 'I don't have to take them again in the fall.'"
In recent months, colleges have been cozying up to the 17-year-old. She won the Wimmer Scholarship Competition at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, a four-year scholarship valued at $84,000. And she netted scholarships to Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., and Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.
Of course, it helps that Shultis is a valedictorian hopeful with a bushel of after-school activities. She keeps busy editing her school newspaper, tutoring Spanish, lobbying against abortion and serving as a historian for her church, St. Vincent De Paul in Hanover. She previously served as co-captain of the debate team and as a student council representative.
In the future, Shultis envisions becoming a pro-life activist and working for the United Nations or the federal government.
She's considering four colleges: Villanova near Philadelphia, Loyola in Baltimore, Md., The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Franciscan University.
Many teens abide by a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to their SAT scores. Still, the numbers sometimes leak out - and can lead to hard feelings. Shultis said that wasn't the case for her.
"I think everybody's happy for me. I don't know anyone who was jealous or got upset about it or anything. But it definitely is a secretive thing. People don't like to talk about it unless it's brought up."
Contact Sarah Mausolf at smausolf@eveningsun.com .