By Dane Anderson, Staff Writer

Westlake High School junior Michelle Doughty recently earned perfect scores on both the ACT and SAT college entrance exams.

On the ACT, Doughty was one of only two students in Texas and 46 students in the U.S. to achieve a perfect score of 36 on the February 2009 national test administration. The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1-36, and a student’s composite score is the average of the four tests; 21.1 was the average national score last spring. 

On the SAT test administered in January, Doughty received a perfect score of 800 in each of three sections  – writing, critical reading and math – for a composite of 2400.

Doughty said her high scores surprised her. 

“I could not believe my scores,” she said. “I felt as though I didn’t do as well as I could have on the SAT, so I sent ahead and signed up for the ACT before I got my scores back. All I hoped from the scores was to not have to take the test again.”

The daughter of Suzanne and Jeff Doughty, Michelle has not yet decided where she will apply to college. She also received a Gold Medal national award from Scholastic Art and Writing, for which she and other recipients will be honored at Carnegie Hall in June. In addition, she received a Gold Key regional writing award in the category “personal essay/memoir.

Doughty attributes her high scores to a love of reading.

“All I can think of to say is that I’m completely addicted to books; I can’t sleep without reading,” she said. 

Doughty’s sister, senior Katy Doughty, won three Gold Keys in writing this year.