12 Glenbrook South Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

GLENVIEW, IL — A dozen Glenbrook South High School seniors have been selected as National Merit semifinalists, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday. The students qualified based on their scores in preliminary SAT tests, and their results have placed them in the top 1 percent of the 1.6 million high school juniors who took the test in 2017. During the course of this year's competition, National Merit said it plans to award 7,500 scholarships worth more than $31 million.

The next step in the process is narrowing down the pool of semifinalists to finalists. About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the next level after submitting an application with information about academic and community activities, employment, awards and "demonstrated leadership abilities," according to National Merit.

Winners will be selected out of those finalists based on their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college, according to National Merit, which plans to announce the class of 2019's Merit Scholars between April and July 2019.

Here are this year's National Merit Semifinalists at Glenbrook South High School:

• Gabriel B. Augustynowicz
• Gayatri Chavan
• Jesus R. Crespo
• Amil Dravid
• Elizabeth M. Garvey
• Noah Jon
• Anthony M. Kang
• Ahmed Malik
• Michael S. Polinski
• Paulina J. Popova
• Rhea N. Shah
• Mykyta Y. Solonko

Last year, 11 GBS students made the cut as semifinalists. Of those, three Glenview students received scholarships sponsored by colleges and one was awarded a $2,500 cash scholarship to the institution of his choice.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955. A majority of the $31 million in scholarships it distributed last year was underwritten by sponsors, including about 178 colleges and 232 corporations.

Related:

• Glenview Schools Ranked Fourth, Sixth In Cook County Suburbs
• District 225 Hires Search Firm For Superintendent's Successor
• Glenbrook Superintendent Lays Out 6 Initiatives Ahead of Final Year

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