Twelve Pingry seniors are finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program, in its 58th year of honoring students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Approximately 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $32 million, will be offered this spring.
To enter the 2013 program, students took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)—the national pool of semifinalists included the highest-scoring entrants in each state. To advance to the finals, a semifinalist must have demonstrated an outstanding academic record throughout high school, been endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earned SAT scores that confirmed the earlier qualifying test. The scholarship application included information about the student’s participation and leadership in school and community activities. Approximately 15,000 semifinalists advanced to the finals.
The finalists
Claire Chen
Andrew Dellapina
Catherine Ding
Sophia Feng
James Gross
Brian Li
Sydney Li
Valerie Morin
Caroline Murphy
Steven Sun
Shirley Wang
Ashley Zhou
