Frisco ISD high schools are proud to announce that 46 members of the graduating Class of 2017 have been named National Merit Semifinalists.
The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) – a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year – and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.
Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship Program. In September, these high scorers are notified through their schools that they have qualified as either a Commended Student or Semifinalist.
In early September, about 16,000 students, or approximately one-third of the 50,000 high scorers, are notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists. To ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are included in this talent pool, Semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state.
NMSC provides scholarship application materials to Semifinalists through their high schools. To be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements explained in the information provided to each Semifinalist.
The number of National Merit Semifinalists in Frisco ISD has more than tripled since 2012. Congratulations to this year’s Semifinalists:
Centennial High School
Michelle Bao
Alex Kim
Frisco High School
Ethan McPeek
Rahul Nair
Emery Shannon
Brittany Thompson
Heritage High School
Cody Chang
Nancy Chen
Mitul Gupta
Chandana Madaka
Abel Philips
Kevin Tu
Hannah Winter
Independence High School
Tiffany Bui
Chung-Fu Cheung
Eun Kyo Chung
Owais Fazel
Jessica Huang
Anirudh Kuchibhatla
David Lai
Jeffrey Mao
Liberty High School
Karthik Dharmalingam
James Gillilan
David Hong
Ethan Kim
Arun Krishnaraj
Adarsh Melukote
Rithika Proddutoor
Raj Raikundalia
Weston Sandland
Austin Satrio
Stephanie Sheldon
Yi Hu “Bill” Wang
Salah Zanabili
Emily Zeng
Daniel Zhang
Jiaye Zhang
Julia Zhao
Lone Star High School
Abhishek Dayal
Hari Krishnakumar
Ashutosh Tripathy
Wakeland High School
Thomas Doerr
Charles D. Fortenberry
Prajwal P. Gowda
Alisha Kodibagkar
Emily Rayer
More than 100 additional students were Commended for their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT®, but do not continue in the scholarship competition.