Next February, seniors Ian Cook and Paige Riley will learn from the NMSC whether or not they qualified as Finalists for the Merit Scholarship Program. For now, they remain 2 of 3 students in the district recognized as Semifinalists, and 2 of 16,000 in the nation.

“Right now, it’s just an academic award,” Riley, who scored a 218 on her PSAT, said. “But if I go on to Finalist it’s definitely gonna have a big impact on my life.”

To qualify, Cook and Riley had to score in the top percentile on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Each state is represented proportionally in the pool of students, causing the required score to fluctuate across borders.

“I wasn’t that surprised, having seen my scores already. I was very honored, but I tried not to make too big a deal about it,” Cook, with a 222 PSAT score, said.

After qualifying, the semifinalists must fill out an application, found here. Principal David Wright will prepare a letter of recommendation for Cook and Riley which will accompany the students’ own essays over their academic careers.

“I’m not happy that it’s just two, but I’m happy that it’s more than one,” Mr. Wright said. “There’s a point of pride in that.”

Six students* who qualified for the National Merit Scholarship Program, but did not move onto the Semifinalist stage, received recognition as Commended Students from the corporation.

“We were so close,” senior and Commended Student Travis Waggoner said. ”I’m still happy that I got recognized, but I would have liked [moving on] a lot more than not being a Semifinalist.”

*The six who qualified as Commended Students, but did not advance to the Semifinalist stage:
Klair Julian
Michael Kojder
Vinh Nguyen
Travis Waggoner
Brett Walker
Garret Weaver