by Ryan Condon

Students who earned high marks on the PSAT qualified as semi-finalists for the National Merit Scholarship, so they are now applying to become finalists, according to assistant principal Deborah Holman.

If students become finalists, they qualify for one of many awards and scholarships sponsored by colleges, corporate sponsors and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s own funds, according to the National Merit website. The students who qualified as semi-finalists are seniors I-Ping Chan, Pamela Chan, Shelton Cochran, Michael Dinsmore, Caroline Ellison, Evan Harris, Abigail Holtzman, Melissa Levy, Nellie Robinson, Andrew Walsworth, Allison Wu and Kevin Wu.

All African-American students who take the PSAT are asked if they would like to apply for the National Achievement Scholarship,  a competition created to “provide recognition for outstanding black American high school students”, according to the National Merit Scholarship website.  Senior Hanna Stubblefield-Tave qualified as a semi-finalist.

The students with the highest scores become semi-finalists,  according to Holman. These students then send in an application to become a finalist. This application is similar to that for the National Merit Scholarship.

These students then qualify for awards and scholarships sponsored by the National Achievement Scholarship Corporation and other corporate sponsors, she said.

Both awards are “an important academic distinction” that shows a student’s hard work and dedication, Holman said.