PARSIPPANY — Three students from the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District have been named Semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program.
Niranjan Sri and Shivakku Gandhirajan of Parsippany Hills High School and Amruta Bagdai of Parsippany High School were among the New Jersey students recognized as Semifinalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which released the list on Wednesday, September 9.
The three local seniors are now eligible to continue in the competition for approximately 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million that will be awarded next spring.
Nationwide, more than 16,000 academically talented high school seniors were named Semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. About 95 percent are expected to advance to Finalist standing, with approximately half of the Finalists ultimately receiving a National Merit Scholarship.
Earning Semifinalist status places these three students among an elite group. More than 1.2 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools entered this year’s competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last year. Semifinalists represent less than one percent of United States high school seniors and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
To advance to the Finalist level, Semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application highlighting their academic record, school and community involvement, leadership, employment, honors and awards. Students must also be recommended by a high school official, submit an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their performance on the qualifying exam.
More than 15,000 Semifinalists nationwide are expected to become Finalists and will be notified of their status in February. Scholarship winners will then be named in a series of national releases beginning in April and continuing through July.
