Check Out The Two Jersey City Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program have been announced today, featuring approximately 16,000 high school seniors across the country.

These seniors will have the chance to continue on in the competition, with roughly 7,500 National Merit Scholarships — worth nearly $30 million — ready to be awarded next spring. According to the organization, about 95 percent of the current semifinalists will eventually become finalists, with half of those students expected to win a National Merit Scholarship.

This nationwide pool of students represents less than one percent of students nationally, and includes 22 students from New Jersey. Among those 22 are two students who attend Jersey City schools. They are:

• Ashton Tang of Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School
• Ayush M. Suri of St. Peter's Preperatory School

High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screening for students.

But that's just the beginning.

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.

To qualify, a student "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."

But that hard work can result in significant financial aid for students who win scholarships.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2022. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit Scholarships, worth $2,500 and to be awarded on a state-representational basis. Additionally, around 220 corporations and business organizations will sponsor roughly 1,000 scholarships, and about 180 colleges are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored scholarships.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2022 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.

Patch reporter Montana Samuels contributed to this report.