Three seniors from North Hunterdon High School have been named as Semi-Finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program Competition. In addition, 18 seniors from North Hunterdon and 9 seniors from Voorhees High School were recognized as Commended Students.
Semi-Finalists are Emily Chen, Mark Sun, and Christina Toms from North Hunterdon High School.
Commended students are: Kelli Berg, Lauren Crawford, David Folsom, Raphaelle Gamanho, Michael Imbesi, Katherine Jennison, Nicholas Jones, Douglas Judice, Terry Li, Alanna McBride, Jennifer Mead, Rachael O’Dell, Olivia Plinio, Desta Pulley, Matthew Sergison, Sarah Speck, Margaret Wang, and Kirstin Wu from North Hunterdon High School; and Zachariah DeGiulio, Jason Farrell, Louise Gallagher, Cory Nunn, Teresa Pecina, Samuel Roth, Erin Seiffert, Michael Stefkovich, and Anna Vail from Voorhees High School.
This year, about 34,000 students throughout the country have been named as Commended Students for their exceptional academic promise. Commended students place among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2013 competition by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
Semi-Finalists are designated on a state representational basis, which means the students selected as Semi-Finalists are the highest scoring entrants in the state. About 16,000 students will go on to be selected as Finalists and will be notified of their selection in February. Students chosen as Finalists also have the opportunity of winning a $2,500 scholarship. Winners of the scholarships are chosen based on their abilities, skills and accomplishments, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. They are also selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans.