Several Oxford High School seniors have earned the title of National Merit Semifinalists this year. They scored in the top 1% on their PSAT, these students are Ann Hunter Bigham, Elliot Bruce, and Hannah Oommen.
National Merit selects students based on their PSAT scores, and if they are in the top 1% of scores, they get selected to be semi-finalists. When students are selected for the National Merit, they have the opportunity for more scholarships.
“Many colleges offer substantial scholarships when they see you’ve been selected as a semi-finalist,” Oommen said. ”It automatically signals that you are in the top 1% of your state and nationwide, which can strengthen your application significantly.”
Many students who qualified for National Merit feel it has opened many doors in terms of getting more scholarships and attention from prestigious colleges.
“I always held hopes of being a National Merit Scholar because of the wide array of opportunities that it provides,” Bigham said. ”So many doors can be opened in terms of college that I previously never dreamed could be open to me.”
Experience is also a very important factor in improving your PSAT scores and getting to the top 1%. Taking the test multiple times may help the test takers be more comfortable and used to the test, and that may help a student’s score.
“It is important to learn how you best take tests,” Bruce said.” The PSAT is just a long test — most of the material will seem familiar, but you need to be able to be comfortable taking tests.”
National Merit awards more than $33 million in scholarship money to nearly 7,600 qualified students. That amount of money, when divided up among students, is a substantial amount of money that can help many students pay for college education.
“I read about the benefits online and realized that if I could score well, the payoff would be immense,” Oommen said. “In today’s economy, every penny counts, and becoming a National Merit scholar makes a huge difference.”
The National Merit has recently added Commended Students to their program. The Commended Students scored in the top 3% of the PSAT, and even though they cannot continue in the competition, they are still recognized for their academic success. Oxford High School has two Commended seniors, Henry Jones and Pascal Parsons. Though Parsons cannot compete for National Merit Scholarships, being a Commended Student motivated him to push himself academically.
“It showed that through hard work I can achieve success, which helped my mindset through studying for other tests like the ACT,” Parsons said. ”It was a good boost to help prepare me for an Honors Program in college.”
Even though the Commended Students do not gain as much recognition as the semi-finalists, it is still a huge accomplishment to put on their college applications. Jones says that knowing he is a Commended Student makes the college application process less nerve-racking.
“Being a Commended Student gives me a bit more confidence in my applications, and that’s honestly a big bonus,” Jones said. “College applications are stressful, and knowing I achieved something like this makes me feel a bit better about applying to schools.”
Preparing for the PSAT is hard work. The PSAT can help students prepare for college due to the difficult preparation and rigorous test.
“Get a recent study guide PSAT book and keep doing practice tests,” Parsons said. “Consistency will get you a high score.”
