Semifinalists Named in the 2013 National Merit® Scholarship Program
Written by Phil Cerroni
(Evanston, Illinois) Today officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (nmsc)
announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit
Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to
continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32
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 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half
of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
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 440 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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Caution: Using numbers of Semifinalists to compare high schools, educational systems, or states will
result in erroneous conclusions. The National Merit® Scholarship Program honors individual students
who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program
does not measure the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state. For more
information about the competition, please visit NMSC’s website at www.nationalmerit.org.
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP CORPORATION
1560 Sherman Avenue, Suite 200, Evanston, Illinois 60201-4897 (847) 866-5100
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Semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program
Steps in the 2013 Competition
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit
Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 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 highestscoring
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 their high school 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, 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 scores that
confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 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.
CARROLLTON
CREEKVIEW H. S.
950 Chin, Daniel C.
907 Dahlvani, Sunena N.
450 Dowell, Jeremy R.
450 Guu, Samantha
455 Nguyen, Thang V.
950 Purdy, Melanie N.
HEBRON H. S.
455 Anderson, Seth W.
628 Connor, Jade A.
161 Grundstrom, Michelle E.
710 Kim, David Y.
628 Korst, Genevieve S.
214 Kunnappally, Jamie R.
160 Lee, Marianne
628 Paluri, Mouctika L.
455 Rosenberg, Rachel A.
450 Runyon, Matthew D.
450 Schray, Dallas P.
628 Young, Preston S.
PRINCE OF PEACE
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
628 Backstrom, Holly A.
R. L. TURNER H. S.
948 Kidson, Monica J.
COPPELL
COPPELL H. S.
161 Ayyagari, Raga N.
459 Begland, Katherine
900 Dean, Elizabeth E.
999 Dhanik, Nisha
459 Duan, Ryan B.
161 Han, Janet J.
161 Kasliwal, Nimit
712 Kersen, Caroline
904 Kim, Daniel
161 Lin, Cinnie N.
999 Lu, Linfeng
999 Madigan, Haley C.
302 Monaghan, Patrick T.
185 Moolenijzer, Nicolaas B.
627 Nguyen, Shannon
200 Panguluri, Sai
999 Pitcher, Michelle J.
209 Tu, Chia-Lin C.
999 White, Zeb
628 Wu, Hanson L.
450 Zhou, Zachary
IRVING
CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY
SCHOOL
522 Clay, Jess A.
162 Echevarria, Alexander F.
907 Horlick, Benjamin L.
837 Konduri, Vimal S.
450 McGraw, Harold T.
185 Nadarajah, Collin J.
830 Raff, Joseph D.
360 Vernino, Christopher K.
450 Weldon, Mitchell T.
FAUSTINA ACADEMY
999 Waterman, Eve G.
HIGHLANDS SCHOOL
946 Malloy, Sean M.
HOMESCHOOL
161 Lowery, Mary M.
MAC ARTHUR H. S.
870 Morrison, Kennedy R.
NIMITZ H. S.
742 Betts, Timothy E.
NORTH HILLS PREPARATORY
870 Babbula, Divya
RANCHVIEW H. S.
772 Sanghavi, Rupal C.
450 Sethi, Apurv
948 Vandergrift, Marlee B.
417 Wallace, Rachel L.
