By Susan Weidener: Inquirer Suburban Staf

Brandt, a junior at Great Valley High School, and Young, a junior at Episcopal Academy, are the only students in the state who scored a perfect 2,400 on the new SAT, the most dreaded and sweeping of standardized tests.

Both have more than their flawless scores in common. Their coach was Matt Joseph, who wrote his doctoral dissertation at Temple University on coaching for the SAT.

Joseph, 46, of Newtown Square, charges $180 an hour and has prepped high school students for the College Board test for the last 18 years.

Joseph has also worked with student athletes trying to get NCAA college scholarships who fared poorly on the old test the first time around. On average their scores went up 190 points, he said.

His secret for students such as Brandt and Young is culling the most difficult questions from old SAT tests and letting them practice with those. As for the essay, he says the College Board is known to ask questions about human nature.

"So you might start out with, 'Throughout the course of history, man has always....' Write two clear paragraphs backing up your thesis and then sum it up with something like, 'Hopefully in the future, man will be able to..." Joseph advises.

Brandt and Young, both 17, also scored perfect 1,600s on the old SAT. The revamped test adds an essay section for the new perfect score.

Though the College Board, which administers the SAT, would not confirm the identity of the students who scored 2,400, citing privacy reasons, officials at Episcopal Academy and Great Valley confirmed that their students had perfect scores.

Just 107 students nationwide got perfect test scores among more than 300,000 high school students who took the test for the first time on March 12.

Christie Brandt wants to major in engineering but hasn't made any decision about which college she wants to attend. Her mother, Susan, is a former nurse practitioner now working on a graduate degree in history at the University of Pennsylvania. Her father, Sam, is a former family physician who is now chief medical information officer with the Siemens Corp. In a recent interview, she discussed her personal and academic life:

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy arts and crafts, especially ceramics and sculpture. I also enjoy volunteering and am cochair on the logistics committee in the Relay for Life.

What is it like to know that you scored perfectly on both the old SAT and the new one?

The best thing about a 2,400 is not having to take the test over again.

Do you remember the toughest question and did you think you were going to blow it?

I just went through the test and looked at each problem one at a time. I wasn't really concerned about missing a tough question because I wasn't expecting to do so well.

What was the stupidest question?

It's hard to remember the questions, but I don't like the ones where they ask, "What was the author's intent?" Since I'm not the author of the article, I have trouble guessing his or her intent.

The new test has an essay. What was the question and how did you go about answering it?

I believe the question related to whether or not the majority opinion should always be taken. I said that it should not, and used historical examples to back it up.

Do you think the SAT is given too much importance?

It's hard to say. It's very stressful for everyone junior year because there are so many important tests that your choice of college depends on. I believe colleges don't simply look at SAT scores and include a number of other factors in their decisions.

How would you advise someone to go about studying for the SAT? How did you prepare (strategies, tutors, practice tests)?

To study for the SAT, I think probably the best way is to just keep taking the test. Scores often go up when the test is retaken. I had some sessions with a tutor and looked through a practice book. Also, my English teacher had us do some practice verbal exercises for the test.

What were you thinking during the down time of the test?

Mainly, I remember thinking that the test was very long.

What did you think when you found out you got a perfect score?

I couldn't really believe it. I guess I was kind of incredulous