11 Vestavia Hills Seniors Named National Merit Finalists

VESTAVIA HILLS, AL - Eleven Vestavia Hills High School seniors learned this week they are now National Merit Finalists. All of Vestavia's National Merit Semifinalists made the cut as finalists.

Approximately 15,000 students nationwide were named National Merit Finalists this year, representing less than 1 percent of the 1.6 million students who took the PSAT/NMSQT test as entry into the National Merit program.

The finalists are:

• Colin Bamford
• Rachel Bates
• Cross Hogland
• Bryce Hutchinson
• Alison Levine
• Nicholas Muscolino
• Lauren Nelson
• Sydney Nelson
• Ritika Samant
• Julia Stewart
• Walter Zhang

As Finalists, the VHHS seniors are now eligible for approximately 7,500 exclusive scholarships worth more than $32 million, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Some 190 colleges and universities around the nation also extend scholarship offers to National Merit Finalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

2019 National Merit Finalists from Vestavia Hills High School. First row, L-R: Ritika Samant, Rachel Bates, Alison Levine, Julia Stewart, Lauren Nelson, Sydney Nelson. Back row, L-R: Bryce Hutchinson, Cross Hogland, Colin Bamford, Walter Zhang, Nicholas Muscolino. Photo via Vestavia Hills City Schools