There it was on the webpage: a shiny, glowing number 36. A perfect score.
Nate Rohda was beyond ecstatic — a reaction expected of any proud parent.
But in all honesty, he wasn’t entirely surprised. He knew there was a high possibility his son, Chance Rohda, would step away with the best score possible on the ACT.
Chance is technically a freshman in high school at East Butler Public Schools in Brainard — emphasis on technically — and it has always been clear he was academically gifted.
But, he forgot his watch on his second attempt at the test — the first try a month earlier earned him a 35 — which threw his timing off, and he had to leave two questions on the math portion of the four-part test blank. The odds appeared to be stacked against him.
“Everything seemed to go wrong,†Nate Rohda said.
So, Chance wasn’t expecting to get a perfect composite score, not this go-around at least.
Even so, when his dad opened the email containing his score, a bold number 36 sat there waiting for him.
“I might’ve said a swear word,†Chance said of his reaction to the score. “I was super excited.â€
A top score on the ACT is rare for any student, with less than 1% of test-takers scoring that high on average. Of the 1.34 million graduates in 2022 who took the ACT, only around 3,300 earned a 36, according to the ACT nonprofit organization.
But, Chance’s score was even more special.
At 13 years old, Chance is among the youngest students in the country to earn the top score on the ACT — with a score of 36 in science, English and reading, and a 35 in math.
“He must’ve only missed the two math questions he didn’t answer,†Nate Rohda said. “We’re very proud, obviously, because while it comes easy to him, he still works very hard.â€
In his 11 years at East Butler, Superintendent Michael Eldridge has only ever seen one other student achieve a perfect ACT score as a junior, but like Nate Rohda, he wasn’t shocked to hear of Chance’s score.
“I was impressed, but not surprised,†Eldridge said. “He's gifted academically, but he's also a well-rounded kid. He’s easy to build a relationship with. He's kind to others. He's respected by his classmates. He's just all in all a really good kid to have in the building.â€
The ACT is broken up into four individually scored sections to create a composite, or average, score and is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors, which, technically, Chance qualifies as.
Again, emphasis on technically.
Before Chance even started school, it was obvious he was advanced for his age.
“He just was a sponge for knowledge,†Nate Rohda said.
So, Rohda and his wife, Jennifer, took Chance to see a professor at Creighton University to help them decide the best route for his education. There, they were advised to place Chance with older students and start him at a higher grade level.
When the time came for Chance to enter kindergarten, the family, who had recently moved to Brainard from Omaha, looked at other schools, including one for gifted children in Reno, Nevada. But, they ultimately decided there was no better place for Chance than East Butler.
The school was more than accommodating, Nate Rohda said, and worked to design a unique program for Chance, allowing him to take his core subjects with the third grade class, while doing things such as art and music with his fellow kindergarteners. Chance has followed a similar model ever since.
“That’s the beauty of East Butler, it’s K-12, all in one building, so it was logistically doable,†Nate Rohda said. “The school is just great.â€
Now, Chance has the academic status of a junior in high school as a freshman and could graduate at age 15.
While Chance hasn’t yet decided if he will put on his cap and gown early, he has already begun scouting potential colleges, with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Raikes School of Computer Science as the current front-runner. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Air Force Academy are also contenders.
However, Nate Rohda said a part of him hopes his son chooses to stay in high school to soak up the final years of his childhood and graduate with the class of 2027.
“We're really happy with the place we're at now. He's good at sports. He's good at school. He's accepted,†Nate Rohda said.
“There’s fear, and it's a tough fear, too, because people don't want to hear you complain that your kid is too smart,†he continued. “There are definitely some growing pains there.â€
No matter what path Chance chooses — and when he chooses to take it — achieving his goal of a perfect ACT score has lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders.
East Butler High School freshman Chance Rohda earned a perfect score on the ACT. He’s among the youngest students to ever earn a 36 on the test at just 13 years old.