6 FCAHS Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Six Fox Chapel Area High School seniors have been designated as National Merit Semifinalists, and 22 were named Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.  The Semifinalists from Fox Chapel Area High School are Lucas Gravina, Chloe Kim, Shriya Krishnamurthy, Adhitya Thirumala, Abraham White, and Dylan Work. The Commended Students  are Jacob Anthikad, Annalese Bartolacci, Dylan Berman, Joshua Correnti, Amelia Costello, Nicholas Cusano, Eliza Davis, Logan Dressman, David Feder, Adam Ferris, Emmett Gillespie, Darren Jayaratnam, Clara Kelley, Henry Koloc, Rachel Milcheck, Eduardo Phelan-Vidal, Lakshanya Rajaganapathi, Liviya Rubin, Emily Torbert, Gloria Wen, Isabella White, and Bridget Yun.

All of these students were selected based on their 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores. Each year, more than 1.3 million juniors complete the PSAT/NMSQT and are automatically entered in the National Merit Scholarship Program.  Approximately 16,000 advance to become Semifinalists, and about 34,000 are Commended. The Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of the nation’s high school seniors, and the Commended Students scored in the top 5%. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Semifinalists must also participate in school and community activities, demonstrate leadership abilities, and receive other awards and honors. The Commended Students are recognized for their exceptional academic promise. The Semifinalists now have the opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for more than 7,000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million to be offered in the spring of 2024.