City Honors Student Who Earned Perfect SAT Score

Ahdiv Nathan just about does it all. He plays varsity tennis. He’s president of his school’s Model United Nations club.

And he just earned a perfect score on the SAT.

The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council recently honored the Tesoro High School senior for his personal and academic achievements—including scoring a 2400 on the SAT—at its recent City Council meeting.

Some of the biggest responses of the night—and it was the night that the council appointed Carol Gamble the new council member—came as Mayor Tony Beall reeled off some of Nathan's accomplishments, including a 4.73 grade-point average. The responses were mostly gasps.

“He’s an excellent young man on a number of levels,” said Dan Burch, principal of Tesoro High School. “He’s so well respected by his peers and the staff.”

In addition to acing four advanced placement tests, Nathan is president of the school’s Model United Nation's Club. He is a nationally ranked varsity tennis player. He is president of Tesoro’s Fit Nation Project. He is a National Merit finalist.

His mother, Hema Nathan, said that she was ecstatic about her son's achievements and that it made her feel “honored to be a parent.”

“He’s a great son," she said. "He really is very caring and very hard-working."

Ahdiv Nathan, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, plans to attend UC Berkeley in the fall.

He said he took an SAT prep course before taking the test.

“It’s really a relief to know that my effort paid off,” Nathan said.  

His advice to any students who want to follow in his scholastic footsteps?

“It’s all about practice,” he said.