Marshalltown High School junior Mitch Eberle earned the highest possible score of 36 on the ACT test recently.
When Mitch Eberle took the ACT college placement test last fall, he thought he did well. But when he got his scores back, it surprised even him. The Marshalltown High School junior earned a score of 36, the highest possible ACT composite score on the test.
Nationally, on average, students earning the top score of 36 represent less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the students who take the test. For instance, in the 2015 graduating class, only 1,598 students of more than 1.92 million who took the test earned a 36 ACT composite score.
“I was kind of surprised,” Eberle said. “I expected a decent score, but not a 36.”
Eberle is still deciding on his college plans after MHS, but has an interest in possibly studying computer science.
“I like the logical thinking and the problem solving,” Eberle said of his interest in computer science.
Mitch is the son of Brandi Eberle and Matt Eberle. The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1-36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores. ACT officials consider a 36 composite score as “significant and rare.”
