DANVILLE, MONTOUR COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Taking the scholastic aptitude test or SAT is something high school students do before applying to a college or university.
Nearly two million students nationwide took the very tough test this year but a local teenager sure made it look easy.
Meet Hansen Zhang, a senior at Danville Area High School. He is no stranger to giving it his all when it comes to studying.
Hansen says, "I guess you can say that, yeah."
Especially studying for the SAT, and boy did he ever study.
"So, I did 200 hours in total and in those 200 hours, I did 42 full-length practice exams so they're supposed to mimic the actual real exam. I did 1,300 pages of, like, practice books," stated Zhang.
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Hansen says, "straight from the college board, these are all my past scores."
Those past scores in the 1400s are scores just about any student would take. But Hansen is not any student. He aimed even higher. But the whiz kid knew this much: it would not be easy.
"I just really wanted to, like, test myself and like really push myself to see what I am capable of doing," explained Zhang.
The SAT is one part of reading and writing. The other part is math. Each part is worth 800 points. Hansen took the test for a fourth and final time in October.
"I had bronchitis when I was taking it. They had to give me my own separate desk so I wouldn't give it to other people," said Zhang.
What he got on that SAT despite being sick is something the college board says only a few hundred students out of the two million a year ever achieve. A jaw-dropping perfect score of 1600.
"It means a lot because to me it's like a testament to my own abilities and just how far I've come as a student," stated Zhang.
Danville Area Guidance Counselor Chris Johns says Hansen is proof of what going above and beyond can accomplish.
"He sacrificed a lot of summers, a lot of evenings, a lot of activities to achieve the score."
"Passion is the number one thing you have to have and Hansen does have that," expressed Lorie Lannen, English teacher at Danville Area High School.
He also has the humility to go along with his know-how as he reflects on his perfect SAT score.
"I wanted to show that it's not something that people are just born with or that people just do because they are destined to do it. It's something anyone can do. You just have to work really hard at it," explained Zhang.
Hansen has applied to Cornell University and hopes to hear this month if he was accepted to the Ivy League School.
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