National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Thirty-nine seniors from Carrboro High, Chapel Hill High and East Chapel Hill High are among the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
     

This year the academically talented students will be competing for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in spring 2018. The scholarship awards are worth more than $32 million. Nearly 90 percent of the Semifinalists attain Finalist standing, and of those, approximately half will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the title Merit Scholar.
       
In order to advance to the next round of scholarship competition, students must fulfill several requirements, including the submission of a detailed application which includes information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in extracurricular activities, honors and awards received and demonstrated leadership skills. Students must also write an application essay and submit a letter of recommendation from a high school official.
       
The Semifinalists are selected from the 1.6 million high school juniors who took the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). This group of Semifinalists comprises fewer than one percent of high school seniors in the U.S. The award winners will be announced in four national news releases between April and July. More than 330,000 other high-achieving seniors have earned the Merit Scholar title since the program was established in 1955.
       
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholars are selected without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.

CHCCS Semifinalists are:

CARRBORO HIGH
Hope B. Anderson
Jackson L.  Asaro
Katherine F. Brownstein
Andre F. Javan
Elena K. Peot
Arjun Shankar
Sophia D. Therber

CHAPEL HILL HIGH
Silas R. Buckner
Andrew M. Campbell
Garrett F. Chappell
Lena A. Cohen
Anne Crabill
Sayali Gove
Douglas Heine
Jerry W. Ji
Benjamin D. Rampel
John Rich
Maggie Weber
Li-Anne W. Wright
Eric Xu
Tyler D. Yandrofski

EAST CHAPEL HILL HIGH
Thomas A. Brodey
Yixuan Cao
Katherine H. Characklis
Dawn E. Culton
Kevin Day
Joie Y. Dong
Vincent Y. Du
Martin A. Hito
Alexander Hoerler
Finley S. James
Kelly D. Lin
Frances O’Grady
Jack C. Phillips
Jennifer H. Qian
Mian A. Qin
Sarah E. Stevens
Albert Tsui
Victor Q. Zhao