HUBBARD Senior does the math and gets perfect 800 on that half of SAT

The youth scored 580 on the verbal part, well above the 507 national average.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- Not to brag, but Brian Valerio knew he had recorded a perfect math score on his SAT college entrance exam.
"I thought I got all of the questions correct," the 17-year-old Hubbard High School senior recalled.
Brian, son of Tom and Donnita Valerio of Franklin Avenue, scored a perfect 800 on the math portion of the test.
School officials think he may be the only Hubbard student who has taken the SAT to do so.
And he didn't study for it.
According to the College Board, which administers the SAT, the average score on the math portion in Ohio is 541.
Nationwide, the average was 519.
Of the 1.4 million students who took the exam this year, only 10,300 aced the math portion.
When Brian, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, took the test, he thought the only reason he may have missed a question was because it might be a trick question.
Brian didn't do as well on the verbal portion of the two-part test, scoring 580. Then again, not bad, considering 507 was the average nationwide score.
Brian thinks he could have scored better on the verbal section, but he found the questions confusing.
His plans
Brian wants to study aerospace at The Ohio State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
While in college, he plans to enter the Reserve Officers Training Corps, with the hope of becoming a jet fighter pilot -- at least for a while -- an endeavor that requires a strong grasp on mathematics.
Brian plans on taking the test again. "There's always room for improvement."
This 17-year-old is not a bookworm. He used to play some sports but had to quit when he got a part-time job cooking at a local restaurant.
Do other students treat him any differently because of the perfect score?
"I don't think they changed much," he said.
yovich@vindy.com