Nine Shady Side Academy seniors have been named finalists in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented students will be considered for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $33 million that will be offered this spring. There are approximately 15,000 finalists nationwide.

The following Shady Side seniors were named finalists:

• Brian Foster
• Chirag Kulkarni
• William Lu
• Jesse Plung
• Rakesh Ravi
• AnnaElaine Rosengart
• Thomas Scherlis
• Emily WInterhalter
• Eric Zhang

These students were among the 1.6 million juniors who entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

A nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists was chosen in September, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. To advance to the finalist stage, semifinalists had to demonstrate an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, earn SAT scores that confirmed their performance on the qualifying test, and submit a detailed scholarship application including an essay and information about participation and leadership in school and community activities.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered this spring. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships, awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships will be awarded to finalists who meet the sponsoring organization's criteria. About 190 colleges will award 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarships to finalists who attend the sponsor institution.

Congratulations to all nine students!