Utah Seniors Recognized for Top ACT Score

April 3, 2008

SANDY, UTAH—Five Utah high school seniors were recognized by Utah System of Higher Education Interim Commissioner David Buhler today for earning a top composite score of 36 on the ACT college admissions exam. These class of 2008 students, honored at a ceremony during the “Reaching for the Stars: Opportunity for ALL Utah Students” conference for educators in Sandy, earned their top scores between April and October 2007.

The students are: Jared Bruton of Duchesne, Duchesne High School in Duchesne; Andy Dahl of Providence, Logan High School in Logan; Alex Hanson of Taylorsville, Olympus High School in Salt Lake City; Daniel Posch of Sandy, Waterford High School in Sandy; and Kimberly Richardson of North Ogden, Weber High School in Ogden.

Left to right: Daniel Posch, Alex Hanson, Jared Bruton
Not pictured: Andy Dahl, Kimberly Richardson

The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1–36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.

Posch was the only Utah student to earn a top score of 36 out of nearly 10,000 test takers in Utah during the April 14, 2007 national test day. Nationally, more than 400,000 took the test with only 48 achieving a score of 36.

Dahl, Hanson and Richardson were the only three Utah students to achieve a 36 composite score on the June 9, 2007, national test date. In Utah, nearly 6,000 tests were administered. Nearly 400,000 students took the test across the country on that day and 177 of them earned a 36 composite score.

Bruton is the only Utah student to achieve a top score of 36 during the October 27, 2007, national test day when more than 10,000 Utah students took the test. More than 450,000 tests were administered nationwide that day with 63 students achieving a top score of 36.

All five students are set to graduate at the end of this school year.

Students who earn a top ACT score should have a choice of the widest possible range of future educational options. ACT scores are accepted at all colleges and universities across the nation.