The first two times Rajiv Tarigopula took the ACT and SAT college entrance tests, he came so close to perfection he knew he had to try again. It paid off, earning him perfect scores on both.

"Third time's a charm, I guess," said Tarigopula, 17, a senior at Parkway West High School.

A 36 is the highest possible score possible on the ACT. Usually, fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of all test-takers get a perfect score. For the graduating class of 2009, 514 seniors got perfect scores. Tarigopula got his perfect score in December as a high school junior.

A perfect score on the SAT is 2400. For the graduating class of 2008, just 294 students earned a perfect 2400 on the SAT, according to The Associated Press. Tarigopula took the test last month, and just recently found out about his perfect score.

On his first two tries, he scored 35 on the ACT and 2300 and 2360 on the SAT. He took as many practice tests as he could find and went through test preparation books and prep materials from his older sister. "I probably wouldn't have taken it again, but since I knew I was so close, and I had the potential to do it," he said.

Nobody keeps track of how many students make perfect scores on both tests. But Tarigopula has company in Missouri: Alan Hatfield, a high school senior from Columbia, was also perfect on both.

Tarigopula is no stranger to recognition. Plug his name into this newspaper's archives and he pops up no fewer than 37 times, starting when he was an 8-year-old Post-Dispatch spelling bee finalist.

Last spring, Tarigopula served as a U.S. Senate page, one of only 30 high school juniors selected from across the country.

He's also been a National Spelling Bee and National Vocabulary Bee champion. He plays on his school's tennis team, is a captain on the school's speech and debate team, likes watching movies and hanging out with friends.

"I'm not like the stereotypical nerd," he said. "I like to think that I get along well and interact with everyone well at school."

He wants to study political science, government or economics in college and eventually go to law school. One day, he'd like to run for office. He's looking at 17 colleges and universities across the country, and the news of his two perfect scores comes with perfect timing: "It came just in time," he said, "to be sent out to the colleges."