Greenville Co. boasts 2 with SAT perfection

By Anna Simon - The Greenville News

GREENVILLE -- Two Greenville County high school seniors will have a distinct advantage as the college application season gets under way: a perfect 2400 score on the SAT test.

Mauldin High senior Natasha Deshpande and Riverside High senior Hannah Chen both had perfect scores, with 800s in each of the three parts of the college entrance test — critical reading, math, and writing.

Close to 300 of about 1.5 million high school seniors taking the test nationally in recent years had perfect scores, according to the College Board, which administers the test. Four South Carolina high school seniors in the class of 2009 had perfect scores, two in the class of 2008 and one each in the classes of 2007 and 2006. Figures for the class of 2010 aren't available yet.

Both Chen and Deshpande were surprised to receive perfect scores.

“I wasn't sure it was my score,” Chen said. “I felt that I hadn't done great on my essay and in the reading section.”

Deshpande had a headache and was running a fever the day of the test and didn't feel she was at her best. Even after narrowing down possible answers on some vocabulary questions, it was hard to determine “the best answer to fit in the blank,” she said.

Neither student took a SAT prep class. Both used study guides that contained practice tests and not only checked their answers but analyzed their mistakes.

“Whenever I missed a question, I looked back to see what the correct answer was and why,” Deshpande said.

Chen said she listed reasons for her wrong answers and “tried to fix the reasons.”

Daily study was the key for Deshpande. She first took the SAT as a junior. She worked with the study guide several times a week and scored 2110 on the test. She took it a second time and didn't study. Her score dropped 60 points. She studied about 15 minutes or so daily before taking the test a third time.

Her advice to others: “Buy a practice book and do a little bit of review every day because that's better than cramming the night before. Be sure you don't stress out too much about it. If questions are hard, don't freak out. Stay calm and just do your best.”

Chen, who took the SAT twice, studied whenever she had time after her regular homework. “Practice is the most important thing,” she said.

Her test-taking philosophy was to focus on finding the one right answer. “All of the others are wrong. They're not half right,” Chen said. “You can't debate it. You can't go back and forth between two answers.”

Both students have had all A's with the exception on one B Chen got in fifth grade; however both young women have outside interests. Deshpande studies Bharatnatyam, a classical Indian dance form, and performs at International Festivals. Chen plays tennis and piano.

Community service is an important part of both of their lives and both see themselves as part of a global society. Deshpande, who has volunteered with Meals on Wheels since seventh grade, visits her parents' families in India every other summer and she said the poverty in cities there sparked her desire to help others.

Chen helped found a club called Atlas that raises money for schools and hospitals in other countries and awareness of other cultures. She also volunteers at the Greer Medical Center and is active in Hands on Greenville.

Both also have taken leadership roles in numerous academic and service-based school organizations.