Sisters Credit Parents for SAT Success

Jacki Chou had a tough act to follow, after her older sister, Vicki, scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT college entrance exam and headed to Harvard University.

But follow it she did, also earning a perfect score and gaining acceptance to Harvard.

The Oak Park sisters credit their parents, engineer Chia-Shing Chou and homemaker Shumei Chou, who insisted that their daughters spend hours each day preparing for the exam.

“My mother made me study for the SAT every day before I was allowed to go out with my friends,” said Jacki, 16.

She and her sister, now 20, used a variety of books with SAT exams from previous years.

Jacki said she practiced by doing one or two tests a day and circling the answers she missed. She would get instruction on how to answer those questions correctly and saved the ones she had trouble with for future study, she said.

Still, the sisters found time to be well-rounded, said La Reina High School Principal Sister Antoinette Marie.

Hailing From a ‘No-Nonsense Family’

Jacki lettered in tennis at the Thousand Oaks school, was nominated princess of the winter ball and volunteered at a medical clinic in Westlake Village that provides services for the poor. She also plays the violin, serves on a student council and is an editor on the campus newspaper.

Vicki is an avid athlete who enjoys golf and tennis, and she plays the piano. While in high school, she was also an editor for the campus newspaper.

Their parents, who came to the United States from China as graduate students in 1978, believe strongly in the value of education and the importance of family, Vicki said.

“We have a no-nonsense family--when our parents tell us to do something, we do it,” Vicki said.

Vicki will graduate this school year from Harvard and intends to go to law school. Jacki has not decided what major she will pursue at Harvard. She once wanted to be a doctor, but is now leaning toward a degree in political science and international affairs, she said.

Siblings With Perfect Scores Are Rare

To take some of the pressure off, both sisters took the SAT during their junior year, Vicki said.

There are no statistics on siblings’ results kept by the Educational Testing Service, the organization that designs and administers the SAT.

But spokesman Tom Ewing said he does not recall a pair of siblings getting perfect scores during the 18 years he has worked at the organization’s Princeton, N.J., headquarters.

The 2000-01 test was taken by about 1.2 million high school students, of which 587 earned perfect scores, Ewing said.

Meanwhile, 14-year-old Sabrina Chou, a freshman at La Reina, is preparing for her turn on stage. She has already scored very well on the preliminary SAT, a practice exam, Vicki said.

But working hard is not enough, her sisters said.

Said Jacki: “A lot of it is luck.”