Metro Detroit teen earns rare perfection on ACT, gets pick of colleges

SHELBY TWP, Mich. (WJBK) - A 17-year-old high school senior likely walked her ACT exams last fall feeling pretty confident. Last week, she found out just how confident she should have been: her score was perfect.

Katie Proffitt is a senior at Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township. She also spends half of her day at Utica Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. Her hard work paid off.

"I saw it on my phone. I was like...'listen, I got it!' And everyone was going nuts and I was so excited!

Katie was in math class and, while excited, she wasn't exactly surprised. She said she studied hard and took several practice tests in her aim for the perfect score of 36. She knew when she turned in her test that she had nailed it.

"When I turned it in I'm like 'this could be it.' I wanted to just write a 36 on it and be like, I have it. I know I do!" she said.

Katie credits her parents, sisters, teachers, and all of her educators who have supported her along the way.

"I'm super thankful that I've gotten to grow up in a great school district. I have great people supporting me, my family's always been there for me. I couldn't ask for anything more," she said.

"Katie is an incredible young woman. She exemplifies what it means to be a student, a scholar. As teachers and educators, when a student achieves at that level, you can't help but feel proud and share in the moment with her," principal Jared McEvoy said.

Katie's deciding between the University of Michigan and Lawrence Tech for college. She wants to study mechanical engineering and use alternative energy sources to help people in developing countries improve their lives.

"I think that that's the greatest thing you can do," she said.

ACT officials say that of the over 2 million students who took the test, just 2,760 students had a perfect score in 2017. 

"I'm one out of 700 people who will graduate this year but I have that to set me apart that makes me special. I think that's a really neat thing I can have under my belt," Katie said. "If I set my mind to accomplishing something. I'm going to work for it and I'm going to get it and there kind of is no alternative."

The sky is the limit for Katie - congratulations!