63 Students Recognized for National Merit Achievement

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced 63 Lower Merion School District students have been recognized in this year’s National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP).

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships in which students are entered by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) - one that serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year.

Of the 1.5 million entrants, roughly 50,000 students with the highest PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores across the three sections - critical reading, mathematics, and writing skills - qualify for recognition in the NMSP. About two-thirds (approximately 34,000) of the 50,000 students receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise, while only about 16,000 qualify as "semifinalists" and continue on to to the next round of the competition.

Of the 63 LMSD students recognized, 40 received Letters of Commendation, 21 qualified as semifinalists who now advance to the next round, and two were named National Achievement Outstanding Participants - a designation recognizing the outstanding performances of the top African-American students participating in the qualifying test.

The finalists, which will be announced in February, are chosen based on their test scores, academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received.

During the past eight years, 508 LMSD seniors – representing an average of nearly 12% of each graduating class – have been recognized through the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees:

Harriton High School

Semifinalists: Aiste Balciunaite, Gideo Haber, Alexander Herriott, Jason Herrmann, Maxwell Hunt, Seth Karpel, Eleanor Mayes, Walden Pemantle, Katherine Pisani, Jonathan Zauberman

Commended: Matthew Benstock, Jeffrey Brietling, Won Chung, Andrew Frederick, Richard Ho, Saranya Khurana, Victoria Marks, Rochitha Nathan, Jeffrey Robinson, Allison Schwartz, Steven Siciliano, Sydney Soll, Kyle Swartley, Yelizaveta Tischenko, Xavier Zambrana

Lower Merion

Semifinalists: Arielle Anderer, David Bloom, William Chen, Kelly Dai, TongDa Gu, Joan He, Brian Hirsh, Sarah Kerman, Jordann Schnarr, Haorui Sun, Wenyan Wu

Commended: William Buckman, Melana Dayanim, Kevin Deng, Lillian Eisner, Alison Epstein, Amanda Farah, Leo Galbraith-Paul, Leo Gallagher-Kowit, Jack Garton, Dania Hallak, Arman Hassan, Oliver Henry, Rachel Kalner, Jacob Kane, Robert Katz, Patrick Kelly, Clare Magalaner, Max Marrone, Madeline McFarland, Joseph McGowan, Leah Ochroch, Julia Rosedale, Andrew Scolnic, Ethan Timm, Robert Warshaw

National Achievement Program Outstanding Participants: Noah Blodget, Olumayowa Olujohungbe