As a sophomore, Penn High School student Felix Zhang became the first in the world to get all 108 questions correct on the AP Calculus AB exam.
According to the Daily Mail, Zhang was one of 270,000 students worldwide to take the AP exam in May 2022.
Zhang told reporters that he felt fairly confident for the test but knew there was a chance for small errors.
“I wasn’t really expecting to see a perfect score,” he said on the Daily Mail. “And that was pretty surprising to me because I felt like, there’s a lot of other people out there who probably perform very well on this test, and I’m pretty surprised that no one else got a perfect score.”
Zhang told WNDU that he never had to guess and only changed one answer while double checking his work.
Head of the Advanced Placement Program Trevor Packer said in an email to the principal, “We applaud Felix’s hard work and the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”
Zhang attributed his success to his teachers and parents. Both of Zhang’s parents work as math teachers at Notre Dame and South Bend, according to ABC57.
Zhang’s calculus teacher Denise White told the Daily Mail, “I love the students. I think that’s why I do it.”
Penn Principal Sean Galiher said in a press release, the goal was for students to feel prepared for college and finish at least four years.
“So if we can expose them at the high school level and help them experience the rigor and the challenge and be successful, we know they’re going to be successful when they leave our walls,” Principal Galiher added.
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