Names in the News: Two Irvington Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

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The Irvington School District is proud to announce that seniors Monica Driscoll and Suyash Bhatt have been named 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists.

The two students, while excited, are exceedingly humble about the honor.

 “I am excited and happy, but I don’t want to be boastful,” said Monica.

 Suyash feels it’s cool, but said in his low-key way, “I wasn’t really expecting it.”

 The two did know they had to be in the running though because they got their scores by the end of 2011. (The test was given in October of that year.) While students get their scores early, they have to wait until the following September to see if their scores are high enough to make that state’s cut-off point, which can vary from year to year.

 “You know you are in the hunt when you get that score,” said Irvington High School Principal Scott Mosenthal. Although the cut-off for each state varies from year to year because semifinalists are designated on a state representational basis – proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors – past scores are available for the viewing. So a student who is familiar with the scoring process can begin to wonder if he/she will make it.

 Both Suyash and Monica knew they would be close…but did not know if their scores were going to be close enough.

 Dr. Mosenthal credits the two for being great students and well-rounded individuals, and says there are a lot of components to the score other than academics. “These are capable, well-balanced kids with bright futures. They are both good readers, intellectually curious, and have good test taking skills. They approach testing with the attitude that ‘I can do this,’ and that can make a difference.”

 Neither of the students are sure where they are headed next year, but Monica is interested in art, and Suyash leans more toward math and science.

 Andrew Lund, Suyash’s guidance counselor, said the honor speaks to his internal motivation. “It’s on the student to take the classes and do well, and Suyash has done that on every possible occasion. He is modest, and passionate about learning. Thirst for knowledge is his motivation.”

 Heather Attenello, who is Monica’s guidance counselor, said that while Monica is a phenomenal artist, she is also a multi-dimensional intellectual. “She is a thinker who absorbs and processes info and continues to process it. When she is studying something she is interested in, she will learn every detail about it.”

The students qualify for the program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in the fall of that year. More than 1.5 million high school juniors took the qualifying PSAT exam; of those, 16,000 were named semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state, and represent less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.