Freshman scores 800 on SAT math section

Michael Buttolph is the youngest kid in his pre-calculus class. A 14-year-old freshman, he will have exhausted the math curriculum at his high school by the end of next year. When he begins the next step of taking upper-level classes at a local university, Buttolph won’t even be old enough to drive.

Buttolph, of Rumney, doesn’t mind.

"It’s a lot better to be the youngest than the oldest," he said. "They (the older kids) respect me."

And they should, at least when it comes to right angles and quadratic equations. At 13, Buttolph scored a perfect 800 on the math section of the SAT. He took the test, usually reserved for high school juniors and seniors, through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

For nearly 30 years, Johns Hopkins has invited top seventh- and eighth-grade students nationwide to take the SAT each fall as a way to find young academic talent. Last year, more than 84,000 students took the test. Only 59, including Buttolph, earned a perfect score on either the reading or math sections.

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