The National Merit Scholarship Program has announced that 12 Madison seniors have been named semifinalists for 2019.

The Madison Semifinalists include:

• Christian Aliferis
• Anthony Arnolie
• Samuel Cohen
• Sarah Conforti
• Devan Fink
• Michael Helmicki
• Jeffery Huang
• Yijia Liu
• Cassidy McKee
• Alicia Pan
• Elizabeth Press
• Sky Zoom

Over 1.6 million students had entered the competition on Oct. 10, 2017 by taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT), but only 16,000 students nationwide qualified for this title.

In Virginia, students had to receive a NMSQT score of 222, ranking in the top one percent of all test takers in the state, on their PSAT in order to qualify. These students will be able to apply to become National Merit Finalists, through an application process that requires students’ transcripts, SAT scores, extracurriculars and a personal essay. Out of the 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 will move on to become Finalists. Of this group, only 7,500 Finalists will be granted scholarships from the National Merit Cooperation. Finalists will also have the opportunity to earn scholarships from other organizations and colleges themselves.

Although a lengthy application, Semifinalists have the opportunity to put this achievement on their college application and the chance to receive scholarships from universities across the nation.