National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Named From Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Nine seniors at Falls Church area schools are among the 16,000 semifinalists named for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship competition.

The semifinalists from Falls Church's George Mason High School are Zoe E. Cunniffe, Isabel J. Davis, Helen I. Morris, Niharika Singhvi and Elizabeth W. Wells. Fairfax County's Marshall High School finalists include Elise V. Ebert, Sophia Konde and Sophia E. Tedesco. Carlos W. Perez is the semifinalist from Falls Church High School.

The 16,000 nationwide semifinalists were selected from 1.5 million juniors who took the Preliminary SAT in 2018. The highest scoring students—now seniors—were selected from each state.

About 15,000 of these students are expected to advance to the finalist level. Applicants must submit a scholarship application detailing their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards. A recommendation from a high school official and essay are part of the application. Students must also receive scores on the SAT or ACT reinforcing their performance on the PSAT.

From April to July 2020, scholarship winners will be chosen from the finalists. Types of scholarships include about 1,000 corporate-sponsored awards, about 4,100 college and university sponsored-awards and 2,500 of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own $2,500 awards.