On Wednesday, September 13, the College Board released the names of all of the National Merit® Scholar Semifinalists in the state of California. To qualify, students must have taken the PSAT in their Junior year of high school and have an index score above the cutoff score, which varies from state to state and from year to year. This year’s cutoff score was 222, up by one point from last year and nearly the highest in the nation. The only regions to have a higher cutoff score were Washington DC, New Jersey, and International Students, all of which had a cutoff of 223.
The Commended Students cutoff also increased this year, from 201 last year to 211.
This year, North Hollywood High School has nineteen semifinalists, all of whom are from the HGM. That’s 27% of the HGM Senior Class, a higher percentage than both Stuyvesant and Bronx Science.
Nationally, there are about 16,000 semifinalists. The National Merit® Scholarship Corporation states that “to be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing.” Semifinalists must complete a separate application, including an essay, and will eventually find out in February whether or not they qualify as a Finalist. Most semifinalists do; there are approximately 15,000 finalists.
Being a National Merit® finalist can be extremely beneficial, since it qualifies students to three different types of scholarships. The National Merit® program offers $2500 scholarships; corporations sponsor scholarships for finalists who are students of employees or interested in their field of work; and colleges such as USC offer significant scholarships as well.
Picture from http://highschool.latimes.com/arcadia-high-school/national-merit-scholarship-semifinalists-announced/