The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual competition for high school students that started in 1955. This competition gives students recognition and scholarships for college. Students enter this competition by taking the Preliminary SAT, commonly known as the PSAT, and qualify by earning a score in the 99th percentile. Each year, about 1.3 million students take the PSAT. Of those 1.3 million students, 50,000 will be recognized as high scores. Then, the semi-finals cut takes place leaving only 16,000 students eligible to compete for the scholarship. From there, 15,000 students will become finalists, if they meet the academic requirements. From that pool of students, about half will receive the scholarship.
This year, Vestavia Hills High School had 14 students named National Merit Semifinalists! 14 of our students represent the less than top 1% of high school senior scores in the nation. The students and faculty condemn our semi-finalists: Danielle Qin, Carol Li, Jessica Ma, Anusha Singh, Shayna Jotani, Patrick Ball, Hunter Carroll, Aarya John, Edward Pang, Daniel Cheng, Arav Singh, Hansen Sha, Drakeson Hu, and Riley Newsome. Vestavia’s student body and staff can’t wait to see what they can achieve in the future.
The semi-finalists shared some tips for students taking the PSAT this year. Their advice included taking practice tests, familiarizing yourself with the format, getting good sleep, and eating a hearty breakfast. We wish our juniors good luck on this exam. Go Rebels!
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