CARMEL VALLEY – A self-professed procrastinator at Torrey Pines High School earned a perfect 2,400 on the SAT with minimal, last-minute preparation.
Mani Ramachandran, a junior, decided to forgo test prep courses and put in a token studying effort two weeks before the April 1 college entrance exam.
CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
Mani Ramachandran, a Torrey Pines High School junior who earned a perfect 2,400 score on the SAT, said he would like to be a professor in English literature or philosophy.
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“I know people who study a lot and spend a lot of money on courses,” he said. “I was stressed about it, too, but I was lazy. I wanted to get a good score but it wasn't enough to change my philosophy: 'Don't do today what can be put off until tomorrow.' ”
Mani said for school exams he generally waits until the last minute and crams during the preceding period or during lunch.
However, Mani is an academic standout. His school day is packed with Advanced Placement courses. He was just appointed captain of the debate team, and he carries a 4.2 grade-point average, which he downplays.
“A lot of the people I know have taken the same number of AP classes and got no C's and so they have 4.7's,” he said.
However, Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran is proud of his son's accomplishments.
“We always knew he was brilliant,” Ramachandran said.
His mother, Diane Rogers-Ramachandran, said her son is well-read.
“He carries a backpack full of books, and I say, 'Mani, do you need to have 20 books when we go on an airplane?' ” she said.
Mani's family is a source of intellectual discourse.
His father is a professor and director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California San Diego. His mother is a part-time researcher in experimental psychology for UCSD.
Mani's grandmother was also an influence. She would administer repeated math drills when Mani was younger. She was a taskmaster, Mani's father said, but always in an affectionate manner.
“She used to have uncompromising standards of excellence and wouldn't settle for anything but the best,” Ramachandran said.
Mani is well-traveled. Family vacations have taken him to such places as Africa, Bali, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, where his father was born. Mani's grandfather was chief of industry for the United Nations, and his great-grandfather wrote India's constitution, Ramachandran said.
Mani said he may follow in his father's footsteps and be a professor, however not in science, but in English literature or philosophy.
Mani said he was quite surprised by his SAT score. While he knew the answers to all the questions, he assumed he'd miss some through careless error.
The College Board, which administers the SAT, does not have figures on the number of perfect scores for this year's SAT, which includes math, critical reading and written sections worth up to 2,400 points combined.
Heming Xu, a Torrey Pines senior, said he wasn't surprised by his friend's test success. He described Mani as more introspective than other teenagers and more thoughtful.
“He wants to learn and grow as a human being and be a good person as opposed to simply being a good student,” Heming said. “He realizes it's not about how many AP classes you take. It's really what you know and what you can do to grow and help others grow.”
Rogers-Ramachandran said her son is a self-directed person who loves to learn, unless it comes in the form of a school assignment.
“Kids have to jump through so many hoops to meet the requirements in school in order to get good grades,” she said. “He likes to set up his own hoops. We're sure he'll do really well in life because he has that internal motivation.”
Sherry Saavedra: (760) 476-8238; sherry.saavedra@uniontrib.com
