8 Manhattan Beach Students Named as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Eight Manhattan Beach students was named as this year’s National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday.

They are Elizabeth M. Chittenden, Darby T. Dayton, Elisse Friedman, Barbara Garrison, Kylie E. Hefner, Matthew A. Kennedy, Emma L. Parsons from MIra Costa High School and Amber N. Ray, who was home schooled.

The eight are among the 16,000 chosen based on their scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Of those, only about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level in February, and in February they will be notified of this designation. About half will win National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring.

The semifinalists represent 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.

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