Three at WHRHS on Merit Scholarships' Semifinalist List

Michael Ma, Abhinav Dantuluri and Wesley Yiin, all of Warren Township and members of Watchung Hills Regional High School’s Class of 2012, have achieved semifinalist standing in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program competition.

They are among some l6,000 Semifinalists in the nation’s Class of 2012 to have achieved this honor and will be in competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million that will be offered next spring.

Last fall, more than 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT) , which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance in the qualifying test. The Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

About 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the Finalist group, who will have competed for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships awarded on a state representational basis.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately240 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specific criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Merit Scholarship winners for 2012 will be announced nationwide from April to early July next year. Watchung Hills Principal Tom DiGanci expressed congratulations and pride in the Semifinalists’ achievement as they joined the approximately 283,000 other distinguished young people who, over the years, have earned the Merit Scholar title.