Fifty-four local high school seniors from 19 different schools have been named National Merit semifinalists after scoring in the top 1 percent of all students taking the Preliminary SAT exam.
By last fall, more than 1.5 million students in the current senior class took the PSAT — a precursor to the Scholastic Aptitude Test college entrance exam. But only 16,000 high-scoring students nationally were named semifinalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Most semifinalists will be named finalists and become eligible for NMSC scholarships. To do so, they must submit detailed applications of their accomplishments and be recommended by an official at their high school.
The 2020-21 PSAT dates are Oct. 14 (primary), Oct. 17 (weekend), Oct. 29 (alternate), and Jan. 26 (newly added).
Each state’s number of National Merit semifinalists (Ohio had 684) is proportional to its share of the nation’s students, according to NMSC. Because of that, the cutoff score to be a semifinalist varies from state to state.
Numerous other students who just missed their state’s semifinalist cutoff, but scored among the top 3 percent of students nationally, are named National Merit commended students.
The National Merit organization emphasizes each year that these student honors recognize the excellence of individual students, not the quality or effectiveness of a state or school’s education system.
Here are the local semifinalists:
Beavercreek: Eric J. Anderson, George Chen, Preston J. Hancock, Spencer J. Hancock, Thomas J. Holte, Christopher B. May, Vivek M. Prasad, Ranga N. Rutiser Sundar, Anna J. Yang, Tiffany J. Zhou.
Bellbrook: Avarie L. Faulkner, Cailey A. Riggs, Marissa P. Smith
Bishop Fenwick: William Richards, Brooke F. Woods
Carroll: Cameron R. Neidhard, Josephine G. Rose
Centerville: Ashrit Challa, Riya M. Dalal, Anjana Peddireddi, Nicholas J. Pitrof, Andrew Z. Song, Nikhil Vijai, Katherine G. Wagner, Jeffrey X. Zhang
Chaminade Julienne: Kathryn A. Schinaman
Dayton Regional STEM School: Kyle D. Eskew, Rilo P. Oberg, Rebekah G. Porter, Pushkar Shirahatti, John O. Wright
Homeschool (Xenia): Josiah T. Entner
Legacy Christian: Joshua M. McClain
Miamisburg: Kamryn E. Clark, Brandon J. Homan, Riley N. Russell
Miami Valley School: William E. Groger
Milton-Union: Micah D. Tracy
Northmont: William A. Pickrell
Oakwood: John J. Bauer, Lane B. Bokros, Carson J. Rohan, Luke E. Smallwood
Springboro: Elijah T. Barker, Lilian M. Coffin, Grace M. Gulczinski, Elliot J. Phillips, Haley E. Scott, Krishna Singla
Tippecanoe: Heidi R. Allan
Tri-County North: Kaimee Knisley
Troy Christian: Carson M. Dickey
Waynesville: William E. Click, Landen T. Stricker
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