Craig
12-14-2002, 01:35 AM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/educ...perfect12m.html (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/134594447_perfect12m.html)
4th time's the charm for perfect SAT score
By The Associated Press
SUNNYSIDE, Yakima County — When Matthew Van Wingerden opened the envelope with the results from his SAT college-entrance exam, he saw he'd scored an 800 on the math portion and an 800 on the reading portion.
"So, is that good?" asked his mother, Agnes.
It's perfect.
Of the 2 million students who took the SAT in 2000-01, 587 received a perfect score. In Washington, 34,400 students took the SAT, and only 12 scored 1,600.
"I always thought, 'Man, I'd like to get a 1,600,' but I never expected to," Matthew said.
The Sunnyside Christian High School senior works part time at his uncle's greenhouse, calls himself a procrastinator and almost never studies.
He's taken the SAT four times, scoring a 1,200 on the test in seventh grade and a 1,410 in both his sophomore and junior years.
Hoping to boost his score a little more, he took the test again in November.
"I've wasted $25 and a Saturday on worse things," he said.
Kevin Gonzalez, a spokesman for the College Board, which offers the SAT, said a perfect score isn't an automatic ticket into the college of one's choice. But it can't hurt.
"An SAT score is not a very complete measure of a person," Matthew said. "I do stupid stuff the same as the next guy."
Matthew is the youngest of four children. His mother is a piano teacher and a teacher's aide. His father, Arie, is a pharmacist at Sunnyside Community Hospital.
Even before Matthew was in school, he was working on double-digit arithmetic problems. At the grocery store, he'd sit in the front of the cart and try to add up sticker prices, Agnes said.
There are no televisions in the Van Wingerden home, so their four children have been forced to read and find other ways to amuse themselves, Agnes said.
Sunnyside Christian Principal Dean Wagenaar said Matthew is an upbeat, friendly, levelheaded young man with an extremely inquisitive mind.
"He has always liked to pursue knowledge and wisdom much further than what we ask him to do," Wagenaar said. "He's very, very self-motivated."
Matthew hopes to use his perfect SAT score and his 3.96 grade-point average to get scholarships for college. He's applied to several, including Trinity Western University in British Columbia and Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Gonzaga University in Spokane and the University of Washington are also possibilities.
He might work toward a degree in chemistry or biology, and his mother said he's spoken of becoming a doctor or a medical researcher.
4th time's the charm for perfect SAT score
By The Associated Press
SUNNYSIDE, Yakima County — When Matthew Van Wingerden opened the envelope with the results from his SAT college-entrance exam, he saw he'd scored an 800 on the math portion and an 800 on the reading portion.
"So, is that good?" asked his mother, Agnes.
It's perfect.
Of the 2 million students who took the SAT in 2000-01, 587 received a perfect score. In Washington, 34,400 students took the SAT, and only 12 scored 1,600.
"I always thought, 'Man, I'd like to get a 1,600,' but I never expected to," Matthew said.
The Sunnyside Christian High School senior works part time at his uncle's greenhouse, calls himself a procrastinator and almost never studies.
He's taken the SAT four times, scoring a 1,200 on the test in seventh grade and a 1,410 in both his sophomore and junior years.
Hoping to boost his score a little more, he took the test again in November.
"I've wasted $25 and a Saturday on worse things," he said.
Kevin Gonzalez, a spokesman for the College Board, which offers the SAT, said a perfect score isn't an automatic ticket into the college of one's choice. But it can't hurt.
"An SAT score is not a very complete measure of a person," Matthew said. "I do stupid stuff the same as the next guy."
Matthew is the youngest of four children. His mother is a piano teacher and a teacher's aide. His father, Arie, is a pharmacist at Sunnyside Community Hospital.
Even before Matthew was in school, he was working on double-digit arithmetic problems. At the grocery store, he'd sit in the front of the cart and try to add up sticker prices, Agnes said.
There are no televisions in the Van Wingerden home, so their four children have been forced to read and find other ways to amuse themselves, Agnes said.
Sunnyside Christian Principal Dean Wagenaar said Matthew is an upbeat, friendly, levelheaded young man with an extremely inquisitive mind.
"He has always liked to pursue knowledge and wisdom much further than what we ask him to do," Wagenaar said. "He's very, very self-motivated."
Matthew hopes to use his perfect SAT score and his 3.96 grade-point average to get scholarships for college. He's applied to several, including Trinity Western University in British Columbia and Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Gonzaga University in Spokane and the University of Washington are also possibilities.
He might work toward a degree in chemistry or biology, and his mother said he's spoken of becoming a doctor or a medical researcher.