Three Ossining Students Are National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Three Ossining High School seniors are semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Marlond Criollo, Skyler Jones and Emma San Martin are among about 16,000 semifinalists who will continue in the competition for roughly 7,500 National Merit Scholarships.

The scholarship program honors students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Students in each state who score the highest on their Preliminary SAT are selected as semifinalists. They represent fewer than 1 percent of all high school seniors who took the exam.

About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to become finalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Roughly half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. They are competing for more than $32 million in scholarships.

The next step in the competition is for the semifinalists to submit an application that includes details of their academic record; honors and awards received; participation in school and community activities; and demonstrated leadership abilities.

Roughly 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools around the country entered the scholarship program by taking the PSAT.

(Photo, from left to right: Skyler Jones, Marlond Criollo, Emma San Martin.)