Austin Prep senior a Presidential Scholar semifinalist

A senior at Austin Preparatory School in Reading has been named a semifinalist for the prestigious Presidential Scholars Program.

Eric Chaykovsky of Tewksbury is one of only 565 graduating seniors from across the nation to be named a semifinalist. Less than than 4,000 qualify to apply for the honor, and the pool is narrowed to 565 semifinalists before the final Scholars are selected in May, according to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Office.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of up to 32 eminent citizens appointed by the President, will make the final selection. They will select one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. students living abroad; 15 students-at-large; and up to 20 students from the creative and performing arts.

Scholars will be invited to Washington, D.C., for several days in June to receive the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a recognition ceremony and to participate in events and activities.

Eric earned 2350 on the SAT college admission exam out of a possible 2400, an achievement only a few hundred students out of several million a year earn, according to The College Board. He has been accepted to Boston University and received the Cardinal Medeiros Scholarship (full-tuition for four years), Northwestern University, Tufts University, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Vanderbilt University. He has not decided on a college.

In addition to outstanding performance on the SAT exam, candidacy is based on outstanding scholarship, school recommendations, school transcripts, students’ essays, self-descriptions and descriptions of activities.