Eleven Berkeley Seniors Recognized as National Merit Finalists

Each student was recognized as a Semifinalist in September and then met the high academic standards to qualify as Finalists. In order to qualify, approximately 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Semifinalists are the highest scorers in each of the 50 states and represent less than one percent of each state’s high school seniors.
 
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered in the spring of this year. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Approximately 90 percent of the Semifinalists are accepted to attain Finalist standing, and about half will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
 
Congratulations to the following students from Berkeley Preparatory School who have been recognized as Finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Competition:
 
Ankit Aggarwal
Alan Armero
Hannah Cohen
Nicholas Diaco
Zachary Diamandis
Michael Esposito
James Goodman
John Graham
Annie Phifer
Grace Searle
Gabriel Villasana