Five Massapequa High School Students are National Merit Semifinalists.

Five seniors at Massapequa High School have been named  National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists.

Joseph Mogavero, Melanie Sheehan, Robyn Tse, Joanna Urli and Joseph Zappa are among 16,000 students nationwide who were announced as semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday.

The competition is now in it's 58th year and is based on their scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Less than one percent of the 1.5 million students who took the test qualify.

To qualify as a finalist, semifinalists must demonstrate an outstanding academic record, must also be endorsed and recommended by their high school principal, and have superior SAT scores. About 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. 

There are 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $32 million, offered in the spring of 2013.