Earlier this month, the National Merit Scholarship Program announced the semifinalists for the 2016 competition.
The program began with about 1.5 million entrants. In this round, that number is whittled down to 16,000. In the spring, 7,400 students will be selected as National Merit Scholars and will receive $32 million in scholarships.
At Hoover High School, Juhee Agrawal, Nathaniel Farnlacher, Connor Jones, Uzma Nur, Daniel Phillips and Hyun Joon Shin were announced as semifinalists.
At Spain Park High School, Christopher Breaux, Katherine Hunter, Austin Peinhardt, Stephen Ritchey, Zoe Shore, Peyton Spencer and Blair Williams were recognized.
At Homewood High School, Laughlin Ashe, Will Beaumont, Emi Ferderber, Wyatt Harrison, Duncan McDuff, Molly Richardson and Tucker Wilson were chosen.
Indian Springs High School boasts seven students that made it to the next round – McKenna Barney, Ashlynn Berry, Claire Chen, Daun Lee, Michael O’Malley, Rob Pulliam and Cheska Romero.
At Vestavia Hills High School, semifinalists were Hannah Bae, Henry Barrett, Andrea Burris, Sarah Carnahan, Natalie Conboy, Will Mathews, Patrick Mills, Sarah Anne Pfitzer and Erica Wei.
John Carroll Catholic School is represented by Michael Hagelskamp and Samuel Norton.
From Oak Mountain High School, Jacob Elkins advanced to the next round.
Westminister Christian Academy is represented by Maya Nallamala.
Mountain Brook High School’s advancing students are Theresa Baren, Dylan Bowen, Sophia Brint, Louisa Collins, Charles Cope, David Creel, Helen Darby, Angela Fu, McKinley Hamilton, Frances Hancock, John Hartman, Benjamin Honan, Leo Jones, Brianna Lipp, Duncan Manley, Coke Matthews, Sara Chandler Mitchell, Elizabeth Nabors, Sarah Nathan, Cole Summersell, Ruben Sun, Patrick Trammell, John Tucker and Eric Voigt.
Briarwood Christian School will be represented by Connor Pelham.
The Altamont School’s advancing students are Adare Brown, Elliot Chen, Robert Denniston, Hugh Perkins, Sarah Rosenthal, William Tang and Kaya Turan.
The Alabama School of Fine Arts’ three Over the Mountain advancing students are Adam He of Hoover, Ake Kankirawatana of Vestavia and Maya Samuels-Fair of Hoover and Vestavia.
To qualify as a National Merit Scholar, students must take a preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test during their junior year of high school. If they score in the top 1 percent of students taking the test, they are named semifinalists. Now, the students will complete detailed applications including their academic, extracurricular and community achievements in the next step in the competition to become National Merit Scholars.