Morgan Hill high schoolers Jared R. Lebovitz and Neil H. Shah have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, according to a press release. Both are students of Ann Sobrato High School.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation this week announced the names of about 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual NMSP. These academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for about 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million. The finalists and winners of the scholarships will be announced 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% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
High school juniors entered the 2022 NMSP by taking the
2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
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.
