Two Mentor Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Two Mentor seniors with PSAT scores among the best in the country have been named semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship.

The National Merit Scholarship program selected Dylan Linville and Hannah Taub as semifinalists after their scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) finished in the top 1 percent of the 1.5 million students who take the test, according to Mentor Public Schools.

Dylan and Hannah are two of about 16,000 semifinalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship program. The Mentor seniors could find out as early as February if they are finalists for the $2,500 scholarship.

Dylan and Hannah are Science Olympiad captains and members of the National Honor Society. Hannah also participates in Model UN, while Dylan is a member of the Math League team.

"Merit Scholarship awards are then given to students chosen from the finalist group based on academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the written recommendations by staff members, information about student activities and leadership and the finalist’s own essay," according to Mentor Schools.

Hannah continues to decide between Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and Oberlin College to pursue a biology major and research career. Dylan is headed to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana to study particle physics and pursue a career in research.