Hinsdale South Announces National Merit Semifinalists, National Hispanic Scholars and Commended Scholars

Submitted by Hinsdale Township High School District 86. Published September 10, 2015.

Hinsdale South High School today proudly announced its National Merit Semifinalists, National Hispanic Scholars and Commended Scholars for the Class of 2016. Students are automatically screened for the program when taking the PSAT/NMSQT in October of their junior year. 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. Also a part of the program, the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program annually recognizes about 5,000 of the 250,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the test.

Sylwia Giza and Aidan Kelly earned the National Merit Semifinalist distinction and Rachel Longoria earned National Hispanic Recognition.

Nathan Arnold, Aaron Frueh, Luke Goldthorpe, Holli Jones, Ethan Kane, Caroline Lee, Rachel Longoria, Priya Nair, Sajiv Sarma, Cassidy Sattler and Michael Zack all achieved Commended Scholar recognition.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the semifinalists and National Hispanic Scholars will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, with about half of the finalists winning a National Merit Scholarship.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2016 will be announced in four groups beginning in April and concluding in July.