Meet The World’s Only High School Student To Receive A Perfect Score On AP Calculus Exam
Indiana high school sophomore Felix Zhang made history, being the only student in the world to score a perfect 108 on the AP Calculus exam.
Test taking is a skill and exams cause much anxiety in students but often offer teachers and schools the ability to measure children’s knowledge and compare results. Despite this, one student has beat all the odds and become the only teenager in the world to receive a perfect score on his AP calculus exam. His name is Felix Zhang, and he is a stand out example of what one person can do if they work hard enough.
This past May, Felix Zhang joined some 270,000 students in taking the Advanced Placement Calculus AB Exam. He was just a high school sophomore at the time, studying at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. Despite this, he received a perfect 108 points out of 108.
This led him to receive a perfect five from The College Board on their 0-5 grading scale. Around 20% of students were graded at the five-level this year, but Felix Zhang was the only one who earned his by acing the test completely. His dedication and hard work left him feeling “pretty confident” about taking the test itself, but he admitted that he had no expectation for a perfect score.
Felix Zhang expressed his shock when he received the news. He noted that he believed that others would do just as well as he did. When he found out that he was the only one in the entire world to gain a perfect score he was “pretty surprised.”
AP calculus is essentially a college level course. Being that Felix Zhang was enrolled in the subject as only a sophomore displayed his mental prowess. The Head of the Advanced Placement Program applauded Penn High School’s educational achievements in properly preparing students, as well as praised Zhang’s hard work to earn his perfect score.
While many students are suffering from learning loss, and various public school districts are struggling to meet even the slightest student proficiency rates, others have proven their ability to succeed despite having faced monumental challenges in recent years. Despite political battles over curriculum content, lockdowns, and a youth mental health crisis, students like Felix Zhang have proven their intelligence. Some high school teens have even gone so far as to dual enroll in college courses while still finishing high school and are graduating with two diplomas.
These accomplishments have been overshadowed by various school failures. Reports of school closures, attendance drops, the teacher shortage, and school violence can be discouraging. Yet Flexi Zhang’s success is a promising picture of what the future can hold if core curriculum content is properly focused on imparting the knowledge needed to make the grade.
Felix Zhang is not just one out of 270,000 students. He is now a high school junior pursuing a good education in order to secure positive future endeavors. This takes focus, dedication, and a willingness to learn that can be more easily fostered with family, school, and community support.
Being the world’s only student to earn a perfect score on the Advanced Placement Calculus test, as a highschool sophomore, may not be something that all students can do. This type of success is rare. However, they can learn from Felix Zhang and give every test their all.
