Russell Huang, a 16-year-old rising senior at Reservoir High School, does not have a secret for his success. He did not attend a special class, he did not stay up late cramming in as many classic novels as he could get his hands on. But somehow he achieved a feat that few can claim - he scored a perfect 2,400 on the newly augmented SATs.
"It's a matter of luck sometimes," Huang said. "Someone who gets a 2,400 this time, on another, they might get a little lower."
Although overall numbers for the 2007 SAT college entrance exam will not be available until late August, Huang found out about his scores in May online.
"I wasn't really sure if it [the score] was right," Huang said. "I checked the online score, so I wasn't sure. I tried not to get terribly excited. But I showed my parents later on, and they were pretty excited."
The Reservoir High School community has been excited and supportive.
"This is a remarkable accomplishment," said Adrian Kaufman, principal at Reservoir, in a prepared statement. "We are very proud of Russell."
Kaufman surprised Huang while he was in French class and summoned him to the main office, where the school's staff members showered him with praise.
"I was very confused," Huang said. "They congratulated me there. I didn't know what was going on at first."
On the 2006 test, 12 students in Maryland and 238 across the nation achieved the perfect score. Almost 1.5 million college-bound seniors nationwide took the test that year. A total of 2,720 Howard County students took the SAT in 2006, earning an average composite score of 1,636.
"I try not to talk about it," said Huang. "I didn't want to sound like Mr. 2400. I think after a while [my friends] got tired about hearing about it. This [article] is not going to help."
Huang, who plays trumpet in the school band, also is a member of the It's Academic team and the National Honor Society. This summer, he plans to attend a mathematics camp.
Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for the school system, said it has been some time since a Howard County student received a perfect SAT score.
"It does not happen very often," Caplan said. "It is a very exceptional performance."
The previous perfect score of 1,600 was replaced in March 2005 when the nonprofit College Board, which owns the SAT, added a writing section to the test.
Huang, who wants to study math in college, also enjoys English, which might have something to do with his perfect score on the augmented test.
"I don't know how much it says about my writing capabilities," Huang said. "The writing section on the SATs is geared toward not testing anything creative. They have obvious answers."
What's next for Huang? First: senior year. Second: college. His top choices: the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis.
"I have a couple that I would like to go to," he said.
john-john.williams@baltsun.com