Port Washington Has 9 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

On Wednesday, eight  seniors and one Chaminade High School senior were named semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These students can now compete for 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $32 million, offered in the spring of 2013.

The Schreiber students are Hannah Fagen, Drew Feldman, Leif Firland-Schill, Joshua Friedman, Ryan Havens, Eleanor Kim, MInah Kim and Sohini Upadhyay. The Chaminade student is Luke T. O’Connell, a graduate of  and .

"I remain proud of the accomplishments of all our students and believe wholeheartedly that they can and do compete with students from around the nation," said Interim School Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Mooney.  

"It serves, for me, as a reminder of the high quality schools within our district," she added. "I look forward to celebrating their achievements with their families, their teachers, and all the professionals who have impacted their lives."

In total, 16,000 semifinalists were announced by officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday. Nearly 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Nationwide, the semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors.

To qualify as a finalist, semifinalists must demonstrate an "outstanding academic record throughout high school." They must also be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and have superior SAT scores. About 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. 

Finalists will compete for scholarships including 2,500 National Merit $2,500 awards. Approximately 240 corporations will finance nearly 1,000 Merit Scholarship awards.  What's more, about 200 colleges and universities typically provide 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who enroll in the sponsor institution. 

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced between April and July of 2013. 

This story was updated to include Chaminade student Luke T. O’Connell, also of Port Washington.