Junior Earns Perfect Score on ACT

Indian Springs School junior Davis Tyler-Dudley ’17 has earned a perfect score on the ACT college entrance exam.

Tyler-Dudley achieved the perfect 36 on April 8, his first time to take the test. The odds of achieving a 36 are extremely low. Among the 1.92 million students who took the exam as members of the graduating class of 2015, only 1,598—or .08 percent—earned a composite score of 36, according to data provided by ACT. An Indian Springs School student last earned a perfect score on the ACT in October 2014.

“Earning a perfect score on this nationwide test is no easy feat,” says ISS Director Gareth Vaughan. “We are extremely proud of Davis and his accomplishment and believe that it celebrates his aptitude, broad skill set, and love of learning. It also represents well our students’ commitment to excellence in the classroom and beyond.”

The ACT includes tests in English, math, reading, and science as a way to measure what students have learned in high school. Each test is scored on a scale of 1-36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.

Tyler-Dudley credits many of the skills he has learned at Indian Springs for his success on the test. “I didn’t do any test prep specifically for the test because I had already taken the PSAT, which seemed really good preparation,” he says. “With everything I have learned at Indian Springs, I viewed this as my test run to see what I needed to do to improve.”

Tyler-Dudley was in AP U.S. History class when he received the email from ACT with the results of his score. “I clicked on it, saw the score, and stepped out of class,” he says. “I texted my parents to tell them and went back to class. My parents were both very happy, but both stayed calm about it, which I appreciated. They took me out to get a steak that night for dinner.”

Also “very, very happy” with the test results, Tyler-Dudley feels that the score reflects just one part of who he is. “I don’t devote everything to studying. Academics has always been a focus for me, but I feel at Indian Springs, it’s just something that is a part of my life. My mom tells me I need to be a Renaissance man, so I try to live up to that.”

A past participant of the University of Alabama Capstone Leadership Academy for high school students and current elected member of Springs’ Student Government and Judiciary, Tyler-Dudley also serves as co-captain of Springs’ state champion Mock Trial Team, which will compete in the 2016 YMCA National Judicial Competition in August in Chicago. (The team came in third place nationally at the 2015 competition.) Passionate about languages, he placed first in impromptu speaking at the 2016 state Spanish Convention. He has taught himself German and for fun practices Russian, Arabic, Italian, and Portuguese with classmates who are native speakers. Next year, he will serve as an officer for Springs’ acclaimed Concert and Chamber choirs.

He hopes that his achievement on the ACT will help him get into a selective college, where he plans to pursue a career in international relations or international business. “Getting this score will give me more opportunities in the college search process, and I expect that it will be very helpful in making it possible for me to find and attend one of my top-choice universities,” he says.
 
He doesn’t believe, though, that standardized tests provide the most definitive measure of his—or any student’s—intelligence, work ethic, or abilities. “My score is not a status symbol to me,” he says. “It's simply a tool that I hope will make the next couple of years a little less stressful for my family.”

Congratulations, Davis!
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190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.

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