High scores across the board for Parsons


 

WINCHESTER — Eric Parsons is at the top of his class as he enters his senior year at The Gilbert School. He has already earned letters in soccer, wrestling and track, and will be captain of the track team next year.

Parsons, who lives in Winchester, was born to Beth and Todd Parsons and is the oldest of two boys.

He has stood out this year in a number of ways, including a earning perfect score on his math SAT exam.

A few years back the SAT was reformatted to include an essay section on the test. Where most test-takers aimed for a combined score of 1600 in reading and math, the new test combines three sections, 800 points each, for a total score of 2400.

In March, Parsons earned an 800 in math, 690 in reading and 660 in the essay section for a total score of 2150.

While he said he did not study for the exam, a friendly competition with his friend, Jim Brady, a fellow math scholar, provided an added incentive to do well on the test. (Brady earned a 750 on the SAT math section, impressive, but not enough to catch Parsons).

In addition to his SAT achievements, Parsons earned several awards this year at the Gilbert School Annual Awards Night. Aside from class awards for advanced placement U.S. history, English 3 honors, precalculus, UConn chemistry and Latin 3, Parsons recieved the Silver Metal on the National Latin exam, the highest score in the school for the American Math Contest for the 11th and 12th grades, the Gettysburg Book Award, the Rensselaer Metal (which includes a $15,000 annual scholarship should he attend the school) and was a Governor’s Scholar Runner-up.

Outside of school, Parsons keeps busy in a variety of extracurricular activities, including playing the bass guitar and shoot in the Scholastic Clay Target Program on a local team at the Norfolk Coon Club. He also plays on the Winsted ultimate frisbee team.

This summer, Parsons will participate in a one-week summer program at UConn called Engineering 2000, where he will be introduced to a variety of fields under the engineering umbrella and have the opportunity to participate in some hands-on activities.

While he is uncertain where he will be attending college, Parsons will visit several campuses this summer to get a better feel for where he will spend his college years, but he is certain he will persue an engineering course of study.

"It’s got to do with math, which is what I am good at and what I like doing, and [I like] the idea of designing stuff," said Parsons.

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