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Four Lake County students have been named semifinalists for prestigious National Merit Scholarships, with all four testing among the top one percent of high school seniors for the Preliminary SAT.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Four of the students are from schools in Lake County:
Now that they have earned their spots as semifinalists, the Lake county students must fulfill several requirements to advance and become a finalist in the competition.
To become a finalist, students must submit a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.
Each of the local students will have to demonstrate 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.
The organization says that over 1.3 million juniors across 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). That test served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The pool of semifinalists features the highest-scoring individuals in each state and represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, according to the NMSC.
According to the NMSC, about 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will earn Merit Scholar titles and win National Merit Scholarships of varying amounts.
Three types of scholarships will be awarded and the winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July.
Leave your words of encouragement and congratulations for these stellar local students. Do you know a local student who is making Lake County proud on the national stage? Contact us.
