National Merit finalists, from left, Maden Herve, Rishabh Raniwala, Jeffrey Huang, Ashleigh Coltman, Alexander Koutsoukos, Vignesh Subramanian stand with Wilton High School Principal Dr. Robert. W. O'Donnell when they were named semifinalists in September.
Contributed photo / Wilton High SchoolSix Wilton High School seniors have been named semifinalists in the 65th National Merit Scholarship Program.
They are: Ashleigh M. Coltman, Maden J. Herve, Jeffrey J. Huang, Alexander Koutsoukos, Rishabh Raniwala and Vignesh Subramanian.
These students may continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.
Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. They must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.
A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Of those who go on to finalist standing, about half will win a scholarship, according to the program.
The competition began with more than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
Wilton’s semifinalists have indicated the following tentative college majors:
Ashleigh M. Coltman — Engineering
Maden J. Herve — Business Administration
Jeffrey J. Huang — Other
Alexander Koutsoukos — Astronomy
Rishabh Raniwala — Engineering
Vignesh Subramanian — Health Professions
For more information about the competition, visit nationalmerit.org.