HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP SEMI-FINALISTS AND COMMENDED STUDENTS
The following students were named National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program:
Satvik Karanam
Sahishnu Sagiraju
Jaikar Sai Muppidi
These students were part of the group of 16,000 Semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million dollars that will be offered in the Spring. Jaikar Sai Muppidi was not present as he was an early graduate in 2021.
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes 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 become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s 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. We wish them well as they continue to the next level.
The following students were recognized as 2022 National Merit Scholarship Commended Students:
Griffin A. Capece
Elizabeth Furman
Rachel Ma
Varsha Saravanan
Dustin Zhao
Although these students did not continue in the competition for the National Merit Scholarship awards, they placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2022 competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
Students who are named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success. We wish these academically talented seniors all the best as they finish out their high school careers.
Pictured left to right: Kristy Pagliari, Dr. Tim McCarthy, Sahishnu Sagiraju,
Joseph Wieckhorst, Elizabeth Furman, Griffin A. Capece, Dr. Donald Murphy,
Satvik Karanam, Dustin Zhao, Joseph Tasman, Rachel Ma, Marisa Wanatick,
Varsha Saravanan, Heather Hiotis, Kathleen Bartlett, Danielle Montera, Joy Ferrara