Plainfield North senior achieves perfect ACT on 1st try

Anushka Menon, a Plainfield North High School senior, achieved a perfect 36 on the ACT college entrance exam on her first try.

“Less than half of one percent of students who take the ACT earn the top score,” according to a news release from Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202.

Menon also wound up in the 99th percentile with the SAT, according to the release. She earned a score of 1530 out of a possible 1600.

Menon said in the release that she was “shocked, happy, and relieved all at the same time,” when she learned of her perfect ACT score.

“I kept looking at the screen as if my score would somehow go away or change,” Menon said, “and when I told my parents, they didn’t believe me either.”

To prepare for the tests, Menon studied every day for a month from ACT books from the library.

“Luckily, the SAT and ACT are similar in terms of the grammar rules and math concepts,” she said, “so I was able to use some background knowledge when preparing for the ACT.”

Menon is not the first Plainfield North High School student to achieve a perfect ACT on the first try.

In 2021, Plainfield North High School junior Ethan Witek earned a 36 on his first try.

Also in 2021, Connor Todd, a junior at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, earned a 36 on the ACT test.

And in 2022, Joliet Catholic Academy senior Marissa Corsi of Plainfield earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36.

Menon credits the support of her family and teachers for her academic success. She loves sciences and participates in Plainfield North’s National Honor Society, math team, Science Olympiad, speech team and badminton, according to the release.

With the help of her sister and a friend, Menon organized Plainfield North’s first World Culture Fair, according to the release. Menon plans to study engineering in college.

Finally, Menon offered advice “to anyone setting a seemingly impossible goal,” she said.

“I would tell them to go for it, no matter what anyone says,” Menon said.