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9 MIHS Students Named 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

9 MIHS Students Named 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
MISD Communications
9 MIHS Students Named 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Left to Right: Jack Hillberg, Trevor Hockley, Andrew Liu, Ari Waingold, Allison Huang, Ashwin Krishnaswamy, Rhett Hounsell, Elisabeth Grove, Sophia Loiselle.

Mercer Island, WA, September 11, 2024 – Today nine Mercer Island High School seniors were named 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The MIHS students are:
Elisabeth Grove
Jack Hillberg
Trevor Hockley
Rhett Hounsell
Allison Huang
Ashwin Krishnaswamy
Andrew Liu
Sophia Loiselle
Ari Waingold

The MIHS students were part of the more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship program announced today.  

All of these academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

Steps in the 2025 Competition
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

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. A Semifinalist 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.

From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

About NMSC
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 320 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

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