Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation have announced the names of eight students who qualified as semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Current Baylor seniors Mary Katherine Crowell, Amethyst Evans, Lauren Johnson, Melissa Manuel, Will Temple, and James Wheeler are this year’s honorees, and two former students also qualified. The eight students met the criteria when they were Baylor juniors by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), the initial screen of program entrants. Boarding student Esther Park, scored high enough on the PSAT to qualify as the school’s ninth semifinalist; however, international students are not eligible for the competition.
“We are so proud of these young men and women and the accolades they have earned for themselves and our school," said Headmaster Scott Wilson, noting that the school has had 61 semifinalists since 2007. "They follow a long line of Baylor students who have received National Merit recognition.”
They are among the 16,000 highest scorers nationwide of the 1.5 million students who took the test, which evaluates critical reading, math, and writing skills. These academically talented students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.