Andrew Ku is Perfect on the PSAT
Huntington High School junior Andrew Ku brushed aside whatever nerves usually accompany a student sitting for the PSAT and earned a perfect 240 score, acing all three sections. It's the equivalent of a 2,400 on the SAT. In other words, it was a very good day.
"It feels good to have a perfect PSAT score, but I couldn't have done it by myself," Mr. Ku said. "I'm very fortunate to have had good teachers and counselors every step of the way. All of my teachers have taught me well, encouraged me with their advice and offered help and time. They have also tolerated my shortcomings. They don't hesitate to sound the alarm bells when I don't turn in the homework on time or don't perform well in class. I think the quality of class instruction had a lot to do with my good scores on tests."
Mr. Ku is currently a member of the National Honor Society as well as the math, science, English and music honor societies. He participates in Mathletes, the Science Bowl and Science Olympiad. The teenager is on the staff of The Dispatch, Huntington High School's student newspaper.
"PSAT preparation is not difficult, but it is tedious," Mr. Ku said. "Basically, one can never get enough practice. One should start out with the Official SAT Study Guide from the College Board. He/she should do every single practice test and review the errors. He/she may want to ask a teacher at school to explain a grammar concept or mathematical principle that he/she does not understand. If one runs out of practice tests, he/she should get the PSAT review books from Kaplan, Barron's, McGraw Hill, etc."
Mr. Ku participates in Huntington's chamber orchestra as well as the Long Island String Festival and Suffolk County Music Educator Assn. events. He was chosen as an All-State alternate this year. "I love playing the cello," he said.
The junior is a member of the Huntington Low Strings Quartet, which has played at the Huntington Foundation's annual gala, at the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival, at President Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill home, and many other places.
"I don't have a clear direction in life yet," Mr. Ku said. "I intend to explore different courses and paths and I may even use the first year of college to do that before I focus on a major. Similarly, I also have not given enough thought as to what college I would like to attend."