6 Westlake Students Named National Merit Finalists

WESTLAKE, OH — Five Westlake students have been named National Merit Finalists. Seniors Isabella DiGiulio, Claire Brewer, Mihir Shetty, Akhilesh Reddy, Talia Zheng and Meghana Tandon beat out 1.6 million other high school students to earn the distiction.

Only about 15,000 students nationwide become National Merit Finalists. The Westlake students will now have an opportunity to compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $31 million. About half of all Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning them the title Merit Scholar.

Becoming a National Merit Finalist is a long journey. It starts when students are juniors in high school and they take the PSAT, which serves as an initial screen for program entrants. Of the 1.6 million students that take the test (from 22,000 high schools) less than 1 percent become National Merit Semifinalists.

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The crop of Semifinalists is further thinned out when students are asked to submit their academic records, receive an endorsement and recommendation from their principal, and earn SAT scores that further confirm the student's earlier performance on the PSAT.

Semifinalists must also submit an essay and information about participation and leadership in school and community activities.