Justin Ricketts is not your average high school senior. The 17-year-old from Riviera Beach, Florida, recently achieved a rare feat: he scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT, the standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. He also got accepted to several prestigious universities, including MIT, Harvard and Princeton.
How did he do it? According to Justin, it was a combination of hard work, natural talent and parental support. He said he studied some geometry and writing skills the night before the test, but he also credited his parents for instilling in him a love of learning and a sense of discipline since he was young.
“I would like to say it’s all me, but you never know,” he said. “It’s something they’ve done since the beginning, basically.”
Justin is a straight-A student at Suncoast Community High School, where he is also the president of the debate team. He has a passion for neuroscience and wants to become a neurosurgeon in the future. He recently participated in an exclusive program at MIT where he conducted research on visual tension with 80 other students from around the world.
He said he was drawn to New England because of its academic reputation and culture. “I definitely want to go to school in New England, hopefully, so those are my top choices right now,” he said.
Justin is among the less than 1% of the roughly 2 million test-takers who score a perfect 1600 on the SAT each year. He said he was surprised and happy when he saw his score online during his first period class.
“It was a bit of like, ‘OK, something is not right here.’ I looked over it a couple of times and it kind of sunk in,” he said. “I was like, OK, it was a good feeling when it sunk in.”
Justin’s achievement has earned him praise and admiration from his peers, teachers and community. He said he hopes to inspire other students to pursue their dreams and make a positive impact on the world.
“[I’m] Doing the best that I can to boost my academic career and professional career to inspire others to do the same,” he said. “Because once you have that platform, you can inspire people to change the world and you can also change the world.”
## References
: High School Senior Justin Ricketts Receives Perfect SAT Score With Plans To Attend Either M.I.T, Princeton, Or Harvard University https://news.yahoo.com/high-school-senior-justin-ricketts-165800003.html
: Riviera Beach student gets perfect score on SAT https://www.wptv.com/news/education/justin-ricketts-perfect-score-sat
: Black Student From Florida Scores a Perfect 1600 on the SAT Exam https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-student-from-florida-scores-a-perfect-1600-on-the-sat-exam/
