New Trier High School students and twins Dean and Aiden Elhadary had just finished their sophomore year when they learned they both earned a perfect score on the ACT exam.
“I got an email in class saying my scores were released and when I found out my score, I was pleased and relieved,” said Aiden Elhadary. ”Then I texted my brother to see what he got and it was the same score — which was exciting.”
Both students share a passion for the sciences and already have an idea of what they want to study after high school. Dean Elhadary said he wants to follow a pre-med track and Aiden is interested in majoring in biology or chemistry.
Both students received a composite score of 36 after taking the test for the first time a week after completing their sophomore year. That’s a feat accomplished by only 1 in 400 students who take the exam, according to ACT Communications Director Juan Elizondo.
While the ACT is typically taken junior and senior year of high school, Elizondo said, some sophomore students will test outside of school administrations to get an early sense of college opportunities.
“The reason we took this test early was to kind of get a data point to know what areas we had to improve on for future test prep,” said Aiden Elhadary.
The twins’ mom, Jenny Elhadary, said the boys spent one month with a private tutor in preparation for the SAT and another month before the ACT. They would meet one hour each week with the tutor, who would assign practice tests, but most of the work was done on their own, she said.
“I know she gave them practice exams and that’s all they did,” said Jenny Elhadary.
“They didn’t do any other preps aside from the exams she gave them.”
Hamdy Elhadary, the twins’ father, added with a laugh that one twin was definitely more interested in studying than the other.
The twins said strong reading comprehension they developed from a young age was key to their success on the English and reading portions of the exam. Dean also credited paying attention in his math class as helpful for the other portions.
Jenny Elhadary said she was on a teleconferencing call for work when she heard the news about the twins getting a perfect score.
Both parents work in healthcare. Jenny Elhadary is the vice president for clinical services at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Hamdy Elhadary is a physician assistant specializing in plastic surgery at Endeavor Health. They said that since the twins were little, Dean and Aiden grew up listening to conversations about the medical field.
After college, both Dean and Aiden hope to enter the medical field, much like their parents, though they are still deciding on a specialty. When the twins are not in the classroom, they participate in an extracurricular nationwide science activity called Science Olympiad, where they compete against other schools with different engineering projects.
“We also help Marie Murphy Middle School students in the Science Olympiad in Wilmette,” said Aiden. “We go there once or twice a week to help coach them.”
The family recently went to visit Duke University, the twins’ top choice for college currently, but are still looking at their options.
“This was very shocking and rewarding,” said Hamdy Elhadary of the first-time perfect score. “I want them to realize how exciting and great this is.”
