Seven seniors in Hamilton County Schools have been recognized among the nations elite high school seniors as they were named Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Only 16,000 high school seniors nationwide earn this distinguished honor each year.
The best of the best for 2018 are: Zoe Zimmerman, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences; Annika Lee, Hamilton County Collegiate High at Chattanooga State; Elias Basler, STEM School Chattanooga; Joseph Azevedo and Joshua Lagria, East Hamilton High; Phillip Dyer, Ooltewah High and Tamjeed Azad, Signal Mountain High.
These academically talented seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth 433 million that will be offered in the spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, the high school seniors had to excel on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which is the initial screening tool used by the program. The recognized seniors represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and are among the highest scoring entrants in each state.
Tamjeed Azad, a senior at Signal Mountain High School, is keeping his college options open at this time but he would like to attend a large research university and study biomedical engineering.
Joseph Azevedo, a senior at East Hamilton High School, would like to attend MIT or Georgia Tech after graduation. He plans to study and work in the field of computer science.
Elias Basler, a senior at Chattanooga STEM School, aspires to be a computer programmer and has applied to the University of Alabama, Huntsville; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and Vanderbilt. He is also considering MIT, Columbia, Emory, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Melon, Northwestern, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Phillip Dyer, a senior at Ooltewah High, has received a full scholarship to the University of Alabama, Huntsville and he is awaiting word from Georgia Tech. He plans to pursue a career in mechanical engineering.
Joshua Lagria, a senior at East Hamilton High School, has applied to Stanford, his top college choice, but he is continuing to consider other schools and submitting additional applications. He plans to study mechanical engineering.
Annika Lee was an early graduate of Hamilton County Collegiate High at Chattanooga State. Information about her plans and a photo were not available.
Zoe Zimmerman, a senior at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, is targeting the University of Chicago, Emory, Davidson, and Vanderbilt to continue her studies. She plans a career in a medical field after graduation.