Oxford seniors Emily Le, Janice Lee, Joseph Lee, Kayla Nguyen, Veronica Shao, and Rachel Yoon have been named semifinalists for the prestigious 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a highly competitive academic scholarship competition that recognizes high school juniors across the nation for their exceptional performance on the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), which receives about 1.3 million entries annually. 16,000 students across the nation earn the semifinalist title with a selection index score cut-off of 221 in California. This places them in the top 1% of all test-takers nationwide. Oxford students prepared and took the PSAT in Junior year.
“I took the SAT before the PSAT, so it was the same kind of knowledge. So I didn’t really study other [knowledge] than the SAT. It just carried over,” Janice Lee said.
Lee is also on the Oxford girls varsity tennis team. She also says that utilizing extra time to complete work in classes can help to balance academics and extracurriculars – all key components of the application. In the future, she hopes to attend a 4-year university, in which the scholarship can help with tuition costs.
To apply for the scholarship, applicants must submit their PSAT scores, which determines their qualification for semifinalist status. Semifinalists are notified in September of their senior year and must submit a detailed scholarship application to advance to the Finalist level. This application typically includes an academic record, extracurricular activities, and an essay.
Personal essays provide reviewers with a deeper insight into the applicant’s character, values, and experiences. Crafting a well-thought-out personal essay can significantly enhance an applicant’s chances of standing out in a competitive selection process.
“I follow a step-by-step process. First, I do a little brainstorm that addresses everything in the prompt. Then, I cut it down and see what’s the key points or most meaningful to address,” said Kayla Nguyen. “And then I just do like a stream of consciousness writing – a little session of just 3 hours at a time to write what I’m feeling about those key ideas.”
Students who take a step further and apply for finalist status can compete for various scholarship awards, including National Merit Scholarships funded by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), corporate-sponsored scholarships, and college-sponsored scholarships. The total amount awarded includes millions of dollars distributed annually.
“I plan to try for the scholarships offered by the national merit program and smaller scholarships from scholarship search websites,” Emily Le said.
“Of course, [the scholarship] would go towards funding for college tuition. I understand that nowadays college is very expensive, even the ones that used to be considered cheaper back in the days,” Nguyen.
Some of the advice seniors have to offer when preparing for PSAT is to stay calm and approach each section strategically.
“Walk in with nonchalance – pretend you don’t care! You will perform better with a calm, assured mindset,” Rachel Yoon said. “Also, study the grammar section. That is a guaranteed way to boost your score.”
The NMSC will announce the finalists in February, with scholarship winners being revealed in the spring of 2025.
