9 Cedar Park Seniors Are Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists

CEDAR PARK, TX —Nine Cedar Park students have been named semi-finalists for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The semi-finalists were announced on Wednesday, and include around 16,000 high school seniors that will go on to compete for the scholarships offered next spring. According to a National Merit Scholarship Program press advisory, more than 90 percent of the semi-finalists will be named as finalists for the scholarship. Of those finalists, about half will win a scholarship.

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the semi-finalists represent less than 1 percent of all high-school seniors in the U.S. For each state, the number of semi-finalists is proportional to that state’s percentage of the total graduating seniors in the country, officials explained.

Here are the Cedar Park semi-finalists for the scholarship:

CEDAR PARK CEDAR PARK HIGH SCHOOL

• Alyson Jia

VISTA RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

• Ethan Chen
• Christian Daniel
• Bryce Flynn
• Nathaniel Irwin
• Sannidhi Koganti
• Rebecca Margolis
• Cole Pomroy
• Kelly To

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955, according to the organization's website. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test — which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants each year — and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

To participate in the National Merit® Scholarship Program, a student must:

• Take the PSAT/NMSQT® in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern;
• be enrolled as a high school student (traditional or homeschooled), progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to accept admission to college no later than the fall following completion of high school; and
• attend high school in the United States, the District of Columbia, or U.S. commonwealth and territory; or meet the citizenship requirements for students attending high school outside the U.S.

Students will find out in February whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will then be announced starting in April 2020.