13 Syosset Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

SYOSSET, NY — Thirteen students from the Syosset School District were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists today. They are among approximately 16,000 students around the country to be named semifinalists.

The semifinalists from Syosset are Sabrina Chen, Ethan A. Chiu, Rohan S. Ghotra, Alex J. He, Caroline K. Hsu, Vivien Huang, Yuni Kim, Christine Ling, David Liu, Shivaangi Salhotra, David F. Wang, Wesley Zhou and Caroline Zhu.

The students are now in the running for one of 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 95 percent of the semifinalists will be named finalists, and about half of the finalists will win a scholarship.

Students were entered into the contest by taking the 2020 PSAT exam. To become a finalist, the student and the school must submit a detailed application, which includes info about the student's academic record, school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards.

The final winners of the scholarships will be announced in four waves, beginning next April and going through July.