Vestavia Sets The Bar For Most National Merit Semifinalists In The State

The Vestavia Hills Pillar is proud to announce the National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2023: Aarya Aluri, Jake Anthony, Samuel Chen, Arman Dolatabadi, Malaika Dsa, Jaxon Dunlevy, Zain Farooqui, Bella Gentry, Jon Gidley, Kate Kaiser, Becca Maddox, MK Meeks, Philip Mitchell, Alice Sun, Graham Uldrich, Amith Varambally, Erin Visser, Hannah Wright, Jamie Casey, Susan Baskar Raj, and Dylan Zhao. With a total of 21 Semifinalists, Vestavia has the most at any high school in Alabama and our largest group in more than 15 years! A big congratulations to all of you!!

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation describes their scholarship program as “an academic competition for recognition and scholarships.” National Merit is an extremely prestigious program that is difficult to be admitted into. There are many steps that have to be taken to be considered for National Merit. The first is completing the PSAT/NMSQT. Every year, approximately 1.5 million high school students enter the program. Of those 1.5 million entrants, about 50,000 qualify for recognition in the program. Of that 50,000, more than two-thirds (about 34,000) are Commended Students. One-third, or 16,000, of the 50,000 qualify as Semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants from each state. Over 15,000 Semifinalists are notified that they have advanced to Finalists.

Again, congratulations to all of the National Merit Semifinalists! We are so proud of all of you!