LARGO, Fla. — A Largo High School IB student is all the talk around town and across the country after he scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT; and it was his first attempt at taking the test.
Jacob Harrison was confident that he did pretty well on the SAT when he took it in December, but when he learned he got a perfect score, he said he "kind of freaked out," according to a press release from the Pinellas County Schools. The odds weren't necessarily in his favor, given that less than 1 percent of students who take the SAT score a perfect 1600 on the test.
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Jacob's mom, Sheri, says Jacob is gifted in math and he also has a photographic memory. He's the math team captain and vice president of the Science Olympiad team. He is on the wrestling and swimming teams and he also volunteers at his school as a chemistry tutor. His mom says he's been in Pinellas County public schools since he was little.
“I didn’t really need to study for math. I was pretty comfortable with it,” he said. “Grammar was where I needed the most help.”
Jacob says he took a practice test on the Khan Academy website and he read "The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar" by Erica L. Meltzer to help him prepare for the writing and language sections. Now, other students are coming to him for help prepping for the big test. He tells them the SAT is "like a puzzle, and that it is more important to recognize patterns in the questions."
So what are his plans after high school? Jacob is thinking about majoring in statistics and pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree.
