Park seniors Chiara Collinet and Aaron Casey-Fix recently learned that they received the honor of National Merit Semifinalist. This award is based on students’ performance on the PSAT (Practice SAT), which they took in October of their junior year.
Principal LaNisha Paddock said being selected as a National Merit Semi-finalist is a huge honor for a student. If selected, you have the opportunity to win a significant scholarship.
“There are 50,000 students that are identified as high scorers,” Paddock said. “Then of those 50,000, 16,000 are identified as Semi-Finalists.”
Semi-Finalist Chiara Collinet said she was surprised to hear that she had qualified as a Semi-Finalist.
“I knew that not a lot of people qualified for the National Merit Scholarship,” Collinet said. “I knew I had gotten a high test score, but I didn’t actually know what the qualifying scores were.”
Paddock said that it’s important to remember that this test is not the only measure of a student’s intelligence.
“All of our students demonstrate brilliance, and they demonstrate their academic success in different ways,” said Paddock.
In the future, Paddock hopes to have more students recognized for this honor.
“We hope to encourage all students to try their best on the PSAT,” Paddock said. “We hope that we can get more students honored, recognized and selected.”
Collinet said the most beneficial way to study is to take practice tests.
“There are free practice questions and tests on Khan Academy,” Collinet said. “That’s what I used to study for both the PSAT and the SAT. “
Paddock said the school does not benefit from the number of Semi-Finalists it has. The program is very much just for the students.
“All high schools in the area offer the PSAT,” Paddock said. “It is just another opportunity to be recognized and to move forward with scholarship opportunities.”
Collinet said she plans to attend college next year and continue with her studies.
“I’d like to study biology and mathematics, potentially a double major,” said Collinet.
Park Semi-Finalists will need to fill out another application to move on to the next round.
