Sixteen Great Neck high school students were selected as semifinalists for the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program by National Merit Scholarship Corporation officials last Wednesday, school officials announced.
“We are pleased to have 16 exceptional students recognized as semi-finalists for the National Merit Scholarship program. These students scored among the highest scoring entrants in New York State on the 2014 PSAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test,” Great Neck public schools Superintendent Teresa Prendergast said. “They serve as academic role models for students in our district, and we wish them luck in the next phase of this prestigious competition.”
The William A. Shine Great Neck South High School led the way with 13 students selected — Tooba Alwani, Emily Bae, Kaitlin C. Hon, Joshua H. Lee, Matthew Lee, Winston Li, Robin H. Park, Tanya Roy, Michael Shen, Adam Siegel, Celina Sun, Annie Yang, and Michelle M. Yang.
The John L. Miller Great Neck North High School had three semi-finalists — Albert J. Aboaf, Olivia Descorbeth, and Won Jung.
The scholarship program rewards students with a variety of scholarships for academic excellence.
The competition for this year’s scholarships began in 2014 when 1.5 million high school juniors from 22,000 high schools across the country took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, according to a National Merit Scholarship Corporation press release.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation selects 16,000 semifinalists, according to the release.
To become a finalist, a semifinalist and his or her school will submit a scholarship application that includes academic record, school and community participation, employment, and honors and awards received.
Beginning in March and continuing through mid-June, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation selects about 7,600 winners from a pool of 15,000 finalists based on academic record, information about the school’s curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the high school official’s written recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and the finalist’s personal essay, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, not-for-profit organization that aims to identify and honor academically talented U.S. high school students, stimulate increased support for their education, and provide efficient and effective scholarship program management for organizations that wish to sponsor college undergraduate scholarships, according to its website.
