Impact Stories

AP Precalculus 5/5: Sai Tanish's Perfect Score as the Youngest in His Class

Cuemath

14 Jul 2026 — 3 min read

Sai Tanish, Grade 9 AP Precalculus, Score 5, Cuemath US

A ninth grader who has just switched states mid-year usually has enough on his plate without taking on a college-level math exam. Sai Tanish took one on anyway.

He earned a perfect 5 out of 5 on the AP Precalculus exam, the highest score there is, and did it as the youngest student in his class, only months after moving from another state. Guiding him was his Cuemath tutor, Nitya Vyshnavi Madduluri. Over about five months of dedicated AP Precalculus prep in their weekly online math tutoring sessions, she helped him make a fast, unfamiliar syllabus his own.

Meet Sai Tanish

Grade: 9
Country: US
Tutor: Nitya Vyshnavi Madduluri
With Cuemath For: About 3 years (since July 2023)
AP Precalculus: 5 out of 5 (perfect score, youngest in his class)

Switching schools partway through the year is disruptive for any student. Curricula do not line up neatly across states, and a class you join midway is already in motion. For a subject like AP Precalculus, which runs at a college pace and builds steadily from the first week, arriving late can easily mean racing to catch up.

Sai was also younger than his classmates, taking a course most students meet a year or two later. On paper, that is a lot stacked against a smooth result: a new school, a demanding syllabus, and topics like analytic trigonometry, polar graphs, and vectors that challenge plenty of older students.

"As Sai Tanish’s Cuemath tutor, I had the opportunity to work with him over five months in preparation for the AP Precalculus examination. Sai demonstrated strong motivation throughout the period, independently learning the majority of the course material, even as he skillfully managed a curriculum transition resulting from relocation.

My role primarily involved providing clarity and structured guidance to take the exam, as well as in specific areas, including analytic trigonometry, polar graphs, and vectors, breaking these down through systematic explanations and consistent practice.

This combination of his self-motivation and targeted support helped him gain confidence across the syllabus, and he went on to score a perfect 5/5 in the AP Precalculus exam."

~ NITYA VYSHNAVI MADDULURI, CUEMATH TUTOR

Nitya's approach fit the way Sai already worked. He was covering most of the material on his own, so rather than reteach from scratch, she put her time where it counted most. Those tougher topics got the bulk of their sessions, broken down step by step and drilled through steady practice until they felt routine. Around a fast, unfamiliar syllabus, that targeted support was the steadying hand he needed.

"Cuemath has made learning math enjoyable and engaging. We truly appreciate the personalized guidance and support from our teacher Nitya, which has helped build both confidence and problem-solving skills."

~ SAI TANISH'S PARENT

AP Precalculus is a relatively new College Board course, launched in 2023, that covers college-level function work, from polynomial and rational functions to exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric, and polar functions. The exam is scored from 1 to 5, with a 5 the highest, and the course is built as a foundation for STEM study and the calculus that follows. It is usually taken in Grade 10 or 11, which makes a perfect 5 in Grade 9 stand out. A strong precalculus base is exactly what sets up success in calculus later, as it did for another Cuemath student who earned a perfect 5 on AP Calculus BC.

Sai Tanish walked into a new school, a faster syllabus, and a course older students find demanding, and walked out with a perfect score. What made that possible was not talent alone but the way he worked, driving his own learning and leaning on his tutor exactly where it counted most. That blend of self-direction and genuine understanding, built this early, is what being MathFit really means. With a college-level course already behind him and years of high school still ahead, the harder math is yet to come, and he is more than ready for it.