26 New Trier Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

The following is from New Trier High School:

Twenty-six New Trier High School students have been named as Semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program competition.

Of about 1.4 million juniors across the country who entered the 2015 program by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), only approximately 16,000 earned the Semifinalist designation, representing less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors. These students will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million.

To become a Finalist, 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 scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and Merit Scholar designees will be selected based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

New Trier’s 2015 National Merit Semifinalists are:

Alexander T. Augustynski; Joseph W. Buzzi; Natalie H. Denby; William C. Finnegan; Luke M. Finnerty; Julian R. Frankel; Max J. Frankel; Jonah A. Frueh; Joshua B. Kuppersmith; Nathan A. Loew; Matthew L. Mah; Melissa I. Masia; Matthew K. Ong; Vijay Ramamurthy; Michael D. Robbins; Joshua P. Rosenkranz; Jordan L. Rubin-Mcgregor; Isabelle S. Sagraves; Jason L. Schwartz; Emma H. Scott; David N. Vishny; David J. Weller; Sarah Wong; Catherine C. Woodburn; and Alex L. Yenkin.