They're cute. They're hip. They're awfully smart. And they both did pretty darn well on the SAT:
It seems like the kind of SAT question custom-made for Dillon and Jesse Smith of Long Beach: 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? nswer: 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 1600, a number most high school seniors 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."
It was a rare thing to hope for. 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. With those numbers, the odds of any two people getting that score would be almost 1 in 2.3 million -- and that doesn't even take into account whether those two people are related, never mind twins.
No, it doesn't (although, as my Devoted Reader Maureen points out, the Newsday reporter gets it wrong by implying that the probability would decrease if family relations were factored in). Dillon and Jesse don't have identical DNA, but they did share a tough mom with high expectations:
"I expected it," said Smith, 44, a physical education teacher at I.S. 143 in Washington Heights. "They have the potential to do even better -- maybe even write the tests ."
What? Momma Smith thinks they could become psychometricians one day? Be still, my beating heart. Oh sure, Jesse is quoted as saying that he doesn't think the test really measures anything, but I figure he's just being modest and humble. After all, I've yet to see the article where a perfect-scoring student is quoted as saying, "Yeah, this test really measures how smart you are, and this proves I'm the best!" I know some top scorers think that, but they'd never say it.
Posted by kswygert at October 28, 2004 02:30 PM