Out of the 326,392 students who took last year’s Advanced Placement (AP) United States Government and Politics Exam, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School alumna Eva Kaganovsky was one of the few to receive a perfect score.

“Eva not only received the top score of 5 but was one of the 113 students in the world to earn every point possible,” Trevor Packer, Senior Vice President of AP and Instruction, said in a letter to Principal Deb Smith. “This outstanding accomplishment is likely a direct reflection of the top-quality education being offered at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School. We applaud Eva’s hard work and also the AP teacher responsible for engaging students and enabling them to excel in a college-level course.”

Kaganovsky joins Cleveland Charter High School’s Katie Doroski as the only students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to earn these top scores on the same exam in 2018.

“I was honestly really surprised,” Kaganovsky said. “I took the test so long ago, it was the last thing I expected to get in the mail.”

Members of the school community, including Kaganovsky’s former teachers, took to social media to congratulate her. LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner also congratulated both students via social media.

“A whole bunch of people including Ms. Smith and Dr. Pearl reached out to congratulate me,” Kaganovsky said. “I realized how crazy it was that I got a perfect score. Like only a little over 100 people did that and I was one of them. It felt really great.”

Kaganovsky credits her AP success to history teacher Davy Mauermann as Mauermann put an emphasis on court cases, which make up a large portion of the AP exam. She also recommends that students taking the same test this year should relate the content covered in the course to today’s society as it makes it more understandable.

“I think the most important thing that AP government students need to do is make the subject interesting to them,” Kaganovsky said. “I definitely studied tons of court cases and reviewed my notes (too).”

Kaganovksy currently attends UCLA as a freshman and is majoring in Human Biology and Society with a concentration in Public Health and Food Studies.

“I’m studying food policy and politics right now in regards to eliminating food inequality and hunger,” she said. “This accomplishment was like a sign that maybe I’m going down the right path.”