Three New Rochelle High School students have been named National Merit Scholarship finalists: Kieran Freed, Celine Glennon, and Leyla Selman. All are in the running for National Merit Scholarships.
Selman is involved in the high school’s Science Research Program and plans to study biomedical engineering when she starts college in the fall. She said she was thrilled when she learned she had been named a finalist. “It’s just a great accomplishment, and it’s nice to be recognized for my achievements,” Selman said. “I am incredibly thankful for my teachers and classmates who have supported me throughout high school and got me to where I am today.”
Freed also is interested in majoring in biomedical engineering, and is thankful to be recognized. “It’s an honor. The work that I’ve done throughout high school was a lot. It’s nice to have some recognition for that,” he said.
Glennon said she is grateful to her family and friends who have helped support her and uplift her during the times she was struggling throughout high school. She is planning to study mathematics in college and hopes to become a math teacher. “I was really excited to be named as a finalist. It just made me feel very grateful, because I think my status as a finalist not only reflects on me and my accomplishments, but it’s also a testament to the people who have uplifted me throughout my high school career,” Glennon said.
More than 15,000 students nationwide were named as finalists. Approximately 7,500 students will be selected as Merit Scholarship winners. This month, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will begin notifying winners by e-mail, with confidential notification sent to their high schools. Four major news media announcements of Merit Scholar designees will be made in April, May, June, and July.
Roughly 1.5 million high school juniors across the country entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test, which screened all initial program entrants. The pool of semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of all United States high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.