Seven Santa Margarita Catholic High School seniors were named semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This honor is earned by less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
These academically talented high school seniors are among approximately 16,000 students nationwide that will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a merit scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the merit scholar title.
Over 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high school 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 scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
In addition to these semifinalists, Santa Margarita Catholic High School also congratulates the Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. The 15 SMCHS students listed below are among 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation who are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Competition:
Erin Biddiscombe
Brett Bonin
Calli Bonin
Jordan Cheung
Claire Crafts
Daniel Endraws
Ashley Weeks
Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program:
Hayley Augustini
James Bardin
Isabela Barrera
Charlize Espinoza
Jason Gong
Ryan Jacobin
Allen Lu
Thomas McClure
Abby Messer
Sophia Morris
Connor Rees
Meagan Rowlett
Eric Shepard
Jaime Svinth
Adelle Wang