Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including six GUSD students: Ibrahim Ahmed, Karo Boyajyan, Haik Isaiants, David Kahdian, Nathan Lee and Debayon Roy.
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to earn one of 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.
About 95% 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.
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.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
First published in the September 23 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
