Last September, eight Woodbridge High students were among the 1% of the nation’s graduating class to qualify as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Woodbridge High is thrilled to announce that eight students from their graduating class have been named semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. This recognition is awarded to students who achieve a Selection Index Score at or above the qualifying score, which was 221 in California this year.
The students honored as semifinalists are: Matthew Chang, Layne Funston, Xiang Li, Alex Lim, Alyssa Lu, Sukruti Pamarti, Charlotte Pham and Derrick Wong. These scholars represent the top 1% of high school seniors nationwide who took the PSAT/NMSQT.
As they advance in the competition, the semifinalists will have the chance to submit additional academic records, recommendations and personal essays to qualify for finalist status. Finalists will be announced in February, with winners of the National Merit Scholarship to be revealed in the spring.
To further strengthen their applications, these students have actively participated in a variety of extracurricular activities.
“I am a drum major for marching band, student board representative for ASB, president of Key Club + Vietnamese Student Association, on varsity track, and in orchestra,” said Pham. They also offered some advice to fellow Woodbridge High students rooted in their own experiences.
“I actually took an SAT prep course during the summer since I was also taking the SAT in October. It helped a lot with both the SAT and PSAT. I highly recommend taking some sort of prep course if possible and signing up for the SAT in October as well,” said Wong.
Of the 16,000 Semifinalists, 15,000 are able to move on as finalists and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. This would open doors for further academic achievements and ease tuition costs.
Congratulations to these remarkable students on their significant achievement! Woodbridge High celebrates their hard work and wishes them continued success on their journey to further academic excellence.
