Brunswick students receive perfect score on AP computer exams – Greenwich Time
Brunswick School senior Ryan Kulsakdinun (right) stands with Computer Science teacher Poonam Gupta. “Brilliant, hardworking, and unassuming,” according to his teacher, Kulsakdinun has earned rare perfect scores on different AP Computer Science exams in two consecutive years. His performance was “so superior that it falls into an extremely select category,” Trevor Packer, Head of the Advanced Placement Program, noted.
GREENWICH — Brunswick School’s computer science department has aced several Advanced Placement top-score achievements — with two students who each attained a perfect score.
Ryan Kulsakdinun earned a perfect score on the AP Computer Science A exam. He is one of 369 test-takers nationwide — less than 0.5 percent of the total — to earn the score during the testing cycle.
His secret to success?
“Apart from reviewing the material, I made sure that I got a good night’s sleep before the exam,” Kulsakdinun said.
This is the second year in a row he has gotten 100 percent of the answers correct on an AP exam, the school said. Last year, Kulsakdinun received a perfect score in AP Computer Science Principles.
He also gives credit to his teacher: All of his classmates received the highest grade possible, a five on a five-point scale, though he was the only one in his class to answer all of the questions correctly.
“Mrs. Gupta is an amazing teacher, and she gave us lots of practice tests and detailed packets on the main concepts to prepare us for the exam. We also had a great group of guys in the class, and everyone was really supportive of each other,” Kulsakdinun said.
He is a “complete student — brilliant, hardworking and unassuming. He is a careful listener, with a deeply analytical, problem-solving mind,” said Poonam Gupta, his teacher.
Despite last year’s perfect score, Kulsakdinun said he was still surprised when he heard a few weeks ago that he had another flawless test.
“This group of students, who have been studying coding together since their freshman year, was close-knit and incredibly enthusiastic about the subject,” Gupta said.
She teaches all of the AP and post-AP computer science courses at Brunswick, an independent pre-k to 12th grade school for boys.
“While receiving a five on an AP exam is a commendable feat in and of itself, only a minuscule minority achieve a perfect score. … Given these odds, Ryan’s achievement of a flawless score in a computer science AP exam not just once, but twice, is even more remarkable and worthy of recognition,” she said.
Another Brunswick student received a perfect score from an AP exam he took in May. Nick Rinaldi got 100 percent on the AP Computer Science Principles exam, a score earned by just 0.15 percent of test-takers.
Brunswick’s computer science department now boasts a total of four perfect AP exam scores.
annelise.hanshaw@hearstmediact.com