Four Seniors Named Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program


Four students from Sewickley Academy have been named semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP).

On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 65th annual program. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state. The Academy’s semifinalists are Mishon Levine, Zoe Luther, Chris Martian, and Luke Tyson.

These scholastically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,600 National Merit Scholarships, worth approximately $31 million, that will be awarded in the spring. Students who advance to the finalist level will be notified in February.

“I learned about the competition from [Director of College Guidance] Ms. Satariano, Chris Martian shared. “I was really surprised and happy to learn that I was a semifinalist, and I’m excited to apply for a finalist spot.”

Mishon Levine echoed his remarks, “It was a pleasant surprise! There's a stretch of time between when you take the PSAT as a junior and when they announce semifinalists in the fall of the following year.”

Zoe Luther was aware of the competition from her brother’s, Cole ’18, involvement several years ago. “It is very exciting to be recognized as part of this exclusive group, especially with such a competitive field of students. A lot of hard work often goes unnoticed with standardized testing, so it’s nice that the program recognizes all of the effort that goes on behind the scenes,” Zoe said.

Approximately 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 NMSP by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as the initial screening of the program entrants.

Congratulations, Mishon, Zoe, Chris, and Luke!

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