John Burke, Reporter
@JBurkeCourant
Feature image contributed by William Egan
In September, 6 seniors at the high school received notification that they earned the accolade of becoming a National Merit Semifinalist. The National Merit Scholarship award is an academic scholarship competition that gives scholarships to students who score in the top 1 % nationally for their PSAT test score. Out of the 1.5 million students who take it each year only around 16,000 qualify. An additional 128 students in Connecticut have received a semi-finalist position and are vying for one of the 7,000 scholarships valued at around 26 million dollars which will be given out next year.
National Merit semifinalist senior Daniel Yoo was satisfied about receiving the award. “I was pleasantly surprised. It was something that I worked hard on and I’m very grateful,” he said.
Another semi-finalist, senior Tedrah Smedley, also shared her pride about receiving the accolade. “It was surprising, but a nice feeling. I was very happy about it,” she said.
Daniel is now applying to be a national merit finalist. The process consists of submitting an application with various credentials. “You have to write an essay that’s about 3,000 characters. There is also some basic information about your parents and yourself, but the essay is just describing who you are and why you’d be a good fit to receive the scholarship,” Daniel said.
In addition to writing an essay, students must also fulfill several other requirements, including consistently having a high academic record, being recommended by a school official, and earning an ACT or SAT score that supports the PSAT performance.
While Daniel was pleased with his performance he made it clear that he believes the PSAT doesn’t define someone’s high school success. “I feel like one day shouldn’t define you, so definitely props to all the other people who received the finalist, but I for one know that there’s plenty of other people who are qualified to receive it as well,” he said.
Students will wait until late February or early March to receive a letter informing them of their finalist decision.
