It seems like the kind of SAT question custom-made for Dillon and Jesse Smith of Long Island, N.Y.: If one out of every 1,511 students taking the SAT will get a perfect score, what are the odds that twin brothers will both ace the test?
Answer: No one knows for sure. Nevertheless, that’s what the Smith twins have done.
Both Dillon and Jesse Smith, 16-year-old fraternal twins, achieved the elusive top score of 1,600, a number most high school seniors only dream about seeing on their SAT score report.
“I was very, very happy,” said Dillon, describing the moment he realized that both he and his brother received the top score on the aptitude test. “I’ve been hoping for it since we started.”
Of the 1.4 million high school seniors who took the test in 2004, only 939 scored a 1600, according to the College Board, which administers the test.
“It’s a very low probability that any one person would get” a 1,600, said Nancy Mendell, professor of applied math and statistics at Stony Brook University. “And it’s even lower that both would.”
The boys, seniors at Long Beach High School, are among the school’s top 20 academic achieving students – Jesse ranks No. 3 and Dillon No. 16. Although the twins say they set high standards for themselves, they don’t put pressure on themselves to meet those goals.
In fact, the twins took no SAT preparation courses, studied from borrowed library books and quizzed each other with vocabulary words.
“I don’t see the SAT as that big of a deal,” Jesse said. “It’s a test testing how well you can take a test. I don’t think it really says how smart you are.”
The boys said the scores don’t mean they can go to any college they want.
Dillon plans to major in engineering and will apply to Columbia University, New York University and The Cooper Union.
Jesse, who wants to become an English teacher, said his top four schools are Brown University, Boston University, Wesleyan University and Bates College.
Long Beach High School staff say the twins take as many advanced placement courses as they can, including a calculus course that they take on the Internet because the high school does not offer it.
Their advice to other students preparing for the test is simple.
“The important part is not getting yourself worked up over the whole idea of it,” Jesse said. “It’s important, but it’s not going to determine your entire future.”
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