Spring-Ford senior Noah Ott earned a perfect score in Advanced Placement Research. Out of 357 students who took the exam this past year, Ott was the only one to earn every point possible on the AP Research rubric, a near impossible feat.
Noah is the second student to score a perfect 5 in AP Research at Spring-Ford, and the third student to get a perfect score on any AP exam in Spring-Ford history. Only 13 percent of AP Research students earned a 5 this year, according to the College Board’s head of AP, Trevor Packer.
“We were very excited and proud of Noah’s accomplishment,” said Julie Korchowsky, one of the two AP Research teachers along with Jaclyn Ritter. “He worked hard throughout the whole school year to design and implement a high quality study, and he worked to improve his paper and hone his presentation right up to the final deadline.
“His writing was sophisticated and thorough – we knew when he submitted that it was an exceptional paper, but we were thrilled to see his efforts recognized with a perfect score from College Board.”
Noah has already aced five previous AP exams with a score of five and has earned both the AP Scholar with Distinction and the AP Capstone Awards. His paper focused on how liminal spaces were demonstrated in the movie The Shining, based on the famous Steven King novel.
“I was really interested in my topic so I enjoyed my research,” Ott said, adding praise for his teachers’ guidance. “Mrs. (Jaclyn) Ritter and Ms. (Julie) Korchowsky really helped guide me through the process and supported me as I worked on developing my method and writing my paper.”
Ott also mentioned that he was grateful for the support of his peers and the uplifting learning environment his classmates made.
AP Research, the second course in the AP Capstone program, allows students to deeply explore an academic topic, problem, issue, or idea of individual interest. Students draw on the skills learned in AP Seminar to design, plan, and implement a yearlong investigation to address this research question. At the end of the year, they report their results in a four-to-five thousand word research paper and oral defense, similar to writing a research paper in a college or graduate class.
More Spring-Ford academic accolades:
Several Spring-Ford students scored highly on the PSAT/NMSQT during their junior year of high school and are part of only 16,000 students from across the country to become National Merit Semi-Finalists. After submitting their applications and meeting high academic standards, they could advance to the finals and win national, state, and corporate scholarships.
This year’s semi-finalists include: Saranya Anantapantula, Patrick Baganski, Hayden Collier, Neng Jiang, Samuel McVey, Mayank Sengupta, Pragya Seth, Tarneet Singh, Sai Shettar, Vaishnavi Vatsal, and Jocelyn Wright.
