Eisenhower Senior High Student Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

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Senior student Som-Mai Nguyen has been named a semifinalist in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSQT) after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) — a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year.

Nguyen is one of about 16,000 NMSP semifinalists this year out of approximately 50,000 high scorers who have been notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state.

As a semifinalist, Nguyen will now have the opportunity to be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship. To be considered for one of the coveted scholarships, semifinalists must advance to finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements explained in the information provided to each semifinalist. Finalists will be announced in February 2013.

All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the finalist group, based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments–without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is available for National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) selectors to evaluate: the finalist’s academic record, information about the school’s curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the high school official’s written recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and the Finalist’s own essay.

Only 90% of the semifinalists will move on to the finals, and more than half of the finalists will earn the title of Merit Scholar, according to a media release from the NMSC, a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance.