National Merit Scholarship Program

Several Limestone County students have been named semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program, the organization announced Thursday.

The dozens of Alabama students named as semifinalists were among 16,000 semifinalists in the 65th annual program. From the pool of semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and those students will be notified of their designation in February.

All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists. Those students will compete for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships valued at more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

Area students named as semifinalists include:

• Nathan R. Williams, a student at East Limestone High School; and

• Luke D. Farris, a student at Lindsay Lane Christian Academy.

Lindsay Lane Principal Scott Luttrell said he was thrilled Farris had made it to the semifinal level, but he was not surprised.

“We’ve known for many years now that Luke was gifted academically,” he said, adding Farris began his LLCA career as a middle-schooler. “He’s challenged himself with dozens of dual-credit and (Advanced Placement) courses. He’s gotten 5’s on every AP test he’s taken, which is the highest score. I’ve taught him and I’ve been amazed by his knowledge and understanding.”

There were also several James Clemens High School students who were named semifinalists. Those students are:

• Sai Sumedha Bobba;

• Shristi Dubey;

• Calvin L. Engstrom;

• Olivia G. Fox;

• Sophia N. Fox;

• Ranoah L. Holcomb;

• Elliott J. Kliesner;

• Michael N. Pagan-Selby;

• Rohan Sethi;

• Lawrence Zhang; and

• Kevin Zhang.

Consideration

To be considered, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. More than 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 program by taking the 2018 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 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring 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 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.

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.