More than 16,000 students have been named semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corp and more than 180 of them are Kentuckians. 19 are right here in Bowling Green.
They are:
Bowling Green High School
- Diego Padin
- Sarah Pannell
- Elli Trivizadakis
Gatton Academy
- Nishita Chaduvula
- Leah Chen
- Raghuram Danturthi
- Samuel Dunlap
- Divine Ezinma
- Hudson Feinauer
- Samuel Gordon
- Malleshwar Jayaraman Suresh
- Jonas Lamb
- Roy Lightfoot
- River McDurmon
- Charles Moody
- Michelle Morttey
- Soham Patel
- Evan Self
- Katherine Tellez
Students enter the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT or the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test during their junior year of high school. To advance to finalist status, these semifinalists submit detailed applications highlighting their academic record, school and community activities, leadership efforts, an essay and their SAT or ACT scores to confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance.
From a press release today:
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
—SNIP—
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2027. Every
Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 700 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 120 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 140 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
Semifinalists in the rest of the state
- Louisville: 72
- Lexington: 49
- Crestwood, Goshen, Union: 5
- Alexandria, Danville, La Grange, Paducah, Park Hills: 3
- Bardstown, Benton, Cecilia, Corbin, Covington, Fort Mitchell: 2
- Fort Thomas, Frankfort, Georgetown, Harrodsburg, Henderson, Independence, Lebanon, Mount Washington, Murray, Nicholasville, Owensboro, Paintsville, Pikeville, Richmond, Russellville, Shelbyville, Versailles, Villa Hills, Williamsburg: 1
If you couldn’t tell, Bowling Green is punching above its weight and we should all be congratulating these students. Hint, hint, local officials.
So congratulations all around!
Want to see how Kentucky stands in relation to the rest of the country? Click here to read Art Sawyer’s breakdown at Compass Education Group.