Seven Laurel Seniors Recognized as Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program

Shaliz Bazldjoo, Kaitlyn Ernst, Sam Iyer, Madie Malbasa, Owen Pinhasi, Nicole Samala and Kate Tracanna were all selected as one of 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide. 

The Semifinalists all have an opportunity to continue in the competition for close to 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be awarded next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Roughly 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing and approximately half of those Finalists will go on to win a National Merit Scholarship.

Over 1.3 million juniors from across 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of US high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.