Frisco ISD high schools are proud to announce that 43 students have been named National Merit® Finalists for 2018.

The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships.

High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores qualify for recognition in the program.

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 become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and his or her 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, 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® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 advance to the Finalist level. All National Merit Scholarship winners are selected from this group of Finalists based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Congratulations to the following National Merit® Finalists:

Centennial High School

Matthew Mun
Emily Peterson
Jason Zhu

Frisco High School

Brianna Royer
Jacob Newman

Heritage High School

Cordel Chang
Nevin George
Ramesh Kanakala
Jennifer Morse
Mahdir Rahman
Beenish Valliani

Independence High School

Satya Boddu
Nikhil Dronamraju
Salman Isa
Joseph Jiang
Ryan Matthews
Shouryaman Saha

Liberty High School

Deepti Aravapalli
Arihant Bohara
Havish Gattu
Aly Muhammad Hirani
Sai Susheel Koukuntla
Jin Lee
Siddhi Phenil Patadia
Rohith Perumalla
Aishani Sil
Nivan Wadhawan
Ally Hoi Ying Wong
Meghana Ann Woodruff
Daniel Jameson Woods
Charles Menghao Yang
Iris Zhang

Lone Star High School

Ryan Leibowitz
Samaya Pattim

Reedy High School

Parker Bedlan
Trevor Liu
Kevin Wang

Wakeland High School

Andrew Deleski
Joel S. George
Sebastian Quiroga
Shreya I. Rao
Kevin Tuttle (graduated early 2017)
Mir R. Zaman