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The National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC) recently announced the names of over 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Homestead High School is excited to announce that ten of our senior students have qualified as National Merit Semifinalists. Those students are Julien Broughton, Niamh Cassidy, Alexandra Gaskin, Raima Naurin, Aiden O’Connor, Matthew Seiberlich, Joshua Stanford, Sanjana Vasireddy, Kevin Wan, and Sara Yesufu.

These academically talented seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 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 competition. Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

"It is truly amazing to have ten National Merit Semifinalists this year. The exceptional achievements of these students are a reflection of the unwavering dedication and support of their families, the remarkable commitment of our outstanding educators, and the hard work of the students themselves," said Eric Ebert, principal of Homestead High School. "These ten scholars have shown not only academic excellence but also a deep intellectual curiosity and passion for learning. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and deeply grateful to the educators who have guided and inspired them. We look forward to watching them continue to excel in their future academic pursuits."

Over 1.3 million juniors across 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Students who qualify as Semifinalists based on their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT are the only program participants who have an opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for National Merit Scholarships. From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to Finalist level, and in February will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Finalists will be announced beginning in April 2025.

Find more information about the National Merit Scholarship Corporation at www.nationalmerit.org