"Each Other's Best Rival"... Australian Twins Who Scored Identical Ties Down to Decimal Points on College Entrance Exam and Got Accepted to Prestigious University

Australian Identical Twins Tie in University Entrance Exam
Twins Luke (left) and Connor pictured with their high school principal. Facebook capture. Resale and DB prohibited. [Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Identical twins in Australia have become a hot topic after overcoming the grief of losing their father and achieving high scores side by side on their university entrance exams. Remarkably, the two even received the same score down to the decimal point, paving their way to prestigious universities.

According to foreign media such as the Daily Mail on the 30th of last month (local time), twins Connor Ipston (18) and Luke Ipston (18), who live in Melbourne, Australia, scored an impressive 99.6 on the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) exam.

This year, the highest ATAR score was 99.95, with the average score around 70. The twins’ score of 99.6 places them in the top tier. They were listed on the 'Top Student' honor roll at their school, St. Paul Anglican Grammar School.

Connor received slightly higher scores in physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry, while Luke scored higher in language subjects, which carry more weight. As a result, both ended up with identical scores down to the decimal point.

Connor plans to apply to medical or engineering schools, while Luke intends to apply to pharmacy school.

They cited "the competitive spirit to outperform each other" as their greatest motivation.

Luke said, "Even for exams I didn’t want to prepare for, if Connor was doing it, I felt I had to as well," adding, "Honestly, I thought Connor would score higher than me."

When asked if they would have been jealous if one had scored even slightly higher than the other, both twins answered, "We would have."

The year 2020 was especially significant for these elite twins. Ahead of their university entrance exams, they faced many restrictions on their studies and activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was also the first year after their father passed away from a heart attack.

Connor said, "When schools closed due to COVID-19, many people lost someone to talk to. But we were able to discuss school homework and exam questions with each other."

Luke expressed, "It was a really tough time. Our father’s death was a great sorrow," but added, "Thanks to the motivation from our mother and teachers who were by our side, we were able to overcome it," expressing his gratitude.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.