NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
ATLANTA, GA, September 27, 2026: At an age when most students are just beginning high school, 14-year-old Fulton County student Ashrit Talluri has already achieved a milestone many college-bound students aspire to: a perfect 1600 on the SAT.
Talluri, now a ninth grader at Fulton County Schools’ Innovation Academy, earned the perfect score when he took the SAT in June, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. He had previously scored 1600 on three practice tests.
“When I saw that 1600, you know, I had to wipe my eyes a couple of times,” Talluri told FOX 5 Atlanta.
The achievement came after months of preparation. Encouraged by his father and his middle school counselor, Talluri registered for the SAT in January and spent about five months preparing with a tutor, YouTube resources and more than two dozen practice tests.
On test day, Talluri said he was particularly nervous about the reading and writing portion of the exam. His strategy was straightforward: stay calm and avoid rushing.
“I took a lot of deep breaths and I just stayed calm,” he told FOX 5.
The family then had to wait several weeks while the score was verified before learning that Talluri had earned the maximum possible score of 1600.
Talluri’s academic journey was already unusual before his SAT achievement. While attending Fulton Academy of Science and Technology in Roswell, he completed 14½ high school credits during middle school and attended college-level summer programs at Harvard and Rice universities. He is now enrolled at Innovation Academy and is taking two college-level courses through dual enrollment.
His academic interests extend well beyond standardized tests.
Talluri has competed in mathematics, technology and chess. The Georgia Math Competition lists him among four students who earned first place with a perfect score in its March 2026 middle-level competition. The organization’s records also show him winning first place in the competition in 2025.
His chess participation can also be independently documented. U.S. Chess Federation records show Talluri representing Fulton Academy of Science and Technology at the 2024 National Middle School Championship, while FIDE records list him competing in rated chess competition in the United States.
Technology is another major interest. Talluri is the Fulton County chapter leader for Horizon STEM, where his biography describes him as an aspiring software developer interested in building AI-powered applications and using technology to solve real-world problems.
His public LinkedIn profile lists interests spanning artificial intelligence, computer science, medicine and research, as well as activities including Science Olympiad, chess, HOSA, TSA and AI in Medicine at Innovation Academy. The profile also lists several technology projects and awards. Some of those accomplishments are self-reported on the profile and have not been independently verified by NRI Pulse.
Talluri also participates in metro Atlanta hackathons. In a recent public post, he described working with a team on “ShadowQA,” an AI software-development project created during an AI Tinkerers hackathon.
Despite having already conquered the SAT himself, Talluri has not entirely left the test behind. He now spends some of his free time developing SAT practice questions and exploring test-taking strategies that could help other students.
“I really want to help the community just like how someone helped me,” he told FOX 5.
Outside academics, Talluri plays chess, has an interest in aviation and participates in hackathons around metro Atlanta. Looking further ahead, he has said he hopes to become a neurosurgeon.
For now, though, Talluri is still only a freshman, balancing high school, college-level coursework and a growing list of interests in science, technology and medicine.
