Students Named as Semifinalists in National Merit Program

Matthew Katz, Matthew J. Kim, Erica B. Portnoy, Arpon P. Raksit, and Michael Zhang were five of 16,000 semifinalists named Wednesday in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors. Semifinalists are chosen based on their PSAT scores, a test taken during their junior year.

"We are incredibly proud of our students who have achieved this national recognition. They are exemplary students who have made a commitment to personal excellence in all areas of their development. Most remarkable about these students is their propensity to use their gifts to benefit others within their school and local communities," Catherine Nolan, principal at Commack High School said of the students. 

Suffolk County had over 30 semifinalists out of the one million students that took the exam in 2009. Semifinalists will go on to compete for 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, collectively worth $36 million.

To become finalists, semifinalists must have outstanding academic records throughout high school, be endorsed by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test, in addition to submitting an essay and information on leadership in school and community activities.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in April. The program began in 1955 to honor the nation's scholastic champions and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.