Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently announced the names of over 16,000 Semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. 14 Livingston High School students earned this honor including Dennis Chen, Brandon Dong, Jonathan Hong, Alan Hu, Samuel Jiang, Katherine Li, Rebecca Liu, Sheryl Liu, Advaith Pillai, William Wang, Anlin Wei, Daisy Yao, Nathan Zhang, and Tiger Zhang.These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.Steps in the CompetitionOver 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highestscoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation.With pic: Merit Livingston High School National Merit Scholarship semifinalists are shown alongside LHS Principal Danielle Rosenzweig and Superintendent of Schools Matthew Block. In front are Anlin Wei, Katherine Li, Samuel Jiang, and Daisy Yao. In the middle row are Sheryl Liu, Tiger Zhang, Alan Hu, Dennis Chen, and Rebecca Liu. In back are William Wang, Advaith Pillai, Jonathan Hong, Nathan Zhang, and Brandon Dong.
