Seniors Sihyun Ahn and Lily Seitelman were announced as 2015 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists this month.
In this highly coveted recognition, Ahn and Seitelman are only two out of about 16,000 semifinalists.
Over 1.4 million juniors took the PSAT, putting Ahn and Seitelman in the top one percent of the highest scoring juniors in the nation.
However, there will only be 15,000 finalists out of the 1.4 million that applied.
Because of their high scores, Ahn and Seitelman are eligible for college scholarships.
Assuming Ahn and Seitelman are named finalists, they will be considered for thousands of scholarships that are estimated to be worth around $33 million.
“All finalists are considered for a single-payment scholarship for $2500, and there are other, more specialized scholarships only available through NMS. They try to match [scholarships] to a dream school you name in the application,” said Ahn.
With that kind of opportunity, Ahn and Seitelman could get a vast amount of funding for any college they want to attend.
“Being a finalist would give me the opportunity to help pay for some of my college expenses. I’d appreciate the chance to contribute in this way,” said Seitelman.
New finalists are named each year and become eligible through PSAT scores. Rising sophomores and juniors should study for the SAT and take the practice SAT in order to qualify.
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