From the very beginnings of our country’s foundation, Americans have always been interested in supporting individuals who have proven to exceed beyond the expectations given to them. One example of this support is the idea of scholarships, which are given to upcoming generations as a reward of their hard work, and a motivator to keep up the dedication and effort. One such scholarship that is open to all students is the National Merit Scholarship.

The National Merit Scholarship is an award given to high school students who not only excel academically, but also score highly on the PSAT/NMSQT. After that, they become a semifinalist and can write an application to become a potential finalist. In addition to the PSAT and application, applicants must do well on the SATs. A more detailed explanation of the selection process is depicted below.

The 18 ACP students who were selected as semi-finalists are: Alyssa Ackerman, Defne Aydin, Sophia Berg, Kevin Chor, Humza Choudhry, Abigail Goon, Jordan Hill, Raine Huang, Mason King, Alex Kroumov, Justin Lee, Giovanni Lopez, Stevie Ortiz, Caitlin Patarakun, Vahini Patel, Devangana Shah, Carter Smith, and Sonny Vakkalanka. Congratulations to you all and good luck on advancing to the next rounds!

We hope this inspires upcoming classes of ACP High School to – as our motto says – “strive for the impossible and be extraordinary”. There are scholarships for everyone, varying from hobbies that you pursue outside of school, to even just your high GPA. Good luck to all of you who aspire to get a scholarship or are currently in the process of applying for a scholarship! Go Knights!