This year, Poly High School has the only National Merit Scholarship Finalists in the entire Long Beach Unified School District. Seniors Brandon Deutsch and Edward Lu have moved on to the final round of the competition.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation names 15,000 National Merit finalists, from which the winners are selected. The winners are selected based on PSAT score, academics, student activities, counselor recommendations and essay. The winners of the scholarship are awarded $25,000 by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
“I think [I advanced to the finalist round] because I was honest and straightforward in my essay. It’s important to keep in mind that even if you don’t get the scholarship, everything’s still going to be okay,” said Lu. “It’s much more important to just go out there and say, this is the kind of person I am, and this is what I believe, than to say, I was president of five clubs. It’s much better to be honest and talk about things that matter to you in a way that is genuine. I think [in my essay] I talked a lot about jazz, and how it has helped me grow as a person.”
The National Merit Scholarship Program has existed since 1955. Students are initially judged based on their PSAT scores. In later rounds, students are judged based on their academics and essays.
“It’s all about getting to the semifinalist round, its all about working hard to understand the content,” said Deutsch. “I think there’s going to be some issues next year since they’re changing the SAT. It’s really important to get the content down so you can get a high score… and on your essay, be honest.”
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