10 Libertyville students qualify as National Merit semifinalists
The 10 semi-finalists, (front row): Allison Tong, Colin Miller, Aaron Chen, Suraj Rajendran, Katie Lund, (back row): Julia Mollenhauer, Laura Zeng, Emily Roller, Emily Stone, Albert Su
Chosen by their exceptionally high PSAT scores, 10 Libertyville High School seniors have moved forward as semifinalists in the running for the National Merit Scholarship program.
Semifinalists for the National Merit score the highest on the PSAT and represent 0.05 percent of a state’s senior student population. The PSAT is offered every fall but only during junior year does the score count towards the scholarship. The finalists receive either the National Merit, the college-sponsored, or the corporate-sponsored scholarship, all of which provide financial aid to students in their pursuit of a career and education.
The 10 students who qualified are Aaron Chen, Kathleen Lund, Collin Miller, Julia Mollenhauer, Suraj Rajendran, Emily Roller, Emily Stone, Albert Su, Allison Tong, and Laura Zeng
“I’m extremely honored,” stated Tong. “It gives students really cool academic opportunities that they usually wouldn’t get otherwise such as merit money that they can receive from either companies or colleges themselves, which I think is great.”
Despite the benefits of scoring highly, not all students might be aware of the opportunities that can come with doing well on the test: “I feel like the reason why we don’t have as many qualifiers is because people just don’t know that it’s the National Merit-qualifying test and since they think it’s just the pre-SAT, they think that they can just blow it off,” shared Tong.
The PSAT also gives benefits outside the potential scholarship. Chen believes that it’s beneficial as a practice SAT: “It’s basically a free SAT, so if you need practice taking that full test within that time frame, this is where you could practice […] otherwise it’d be like $90.”
To proceed in the National Merit Scholarship program, the semifinalists must submit their SAT scores, academic records and be endorsed by high school officials. Then, about 8,000 students nationwide will advance as finalists.
The Libertyville students will have to wait until the spring of 2018 to hear if they have received the finalist standing.
