Officials from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million that will be offered next spring.

Brophy College Preparatory, an all-male Jesuit high school in North Central Phoenix, led the state with 26 National Merit Semifinalists this year, the most from any Arizona high school program (photo by Mica Mulloy).

Brophy College Preparatory, an all-male Jesuit high school in North Central Phoenix, led the state with 26 National Merit Semifinalists this year, the most from any Arizona high school program (photo by Mica Mulloy).

Dozens of North Central high school students made the Semifinalist roster, from city public schools like North, Thunderbird and Sunnyslope High Schools, as well as private and charter schools such as Brophy, Xavier and Veritas Prepartory Academies, and Arizona School for the Arts. See the list of students, by school, below.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and their 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.

About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

In February 2014 the Semifinalists will be notified if they made it to Finalist. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. 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.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2014 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 300,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

Arizona School for the Arts:
Hannah Blaile
Jeesun Lee
Helene Leonard
Marcelia M. Leonard
Mary K. Snider

Brophy College Preparatory:
Kyle Chapman
Alex Chen
James Crnkovich
Ryan Frankel
Justin Frere
Seth Harris
Justin Hegyi
Will Herold
Aakash Jain
Jeremiah Johnson
George Liddy
Kush Mahajani
Ryan McCoy
Cooper Munhall
Michael Nahom
Jack Park
Cory Pitt
Garrett Rupp
Andrew Salmon
Brian Scaramella
Jack Travis
Sam Triplett
Raj Vatsa
Nolan Weinstein
Spencer Wix
Matthew Worley

North High School:
David Battel

Sunnyslope High School:
Austin Colter
Alexandra Meilech
Samantha Orwoll

Thunderbird High School:
Nicholas Billings

Veritas Preparatory Academy:
Jack Cobourn
Owen Stenson

Xavier College Preparatory:
Maha Ahmed
Julia Burke
Andrea Filler
Maeher Grewal
Kelsey Harrison
Emily Hastings
Cecilia Hoang
Marissa Patel
Sarah Sakha
Sophia Wix
Claire Woodrow

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