The SCSD is proud to announce we have a total of nine Merit Scholarship finalists!
Smithtown High School West students Sierra Needham, Catalina Kreitzman, Heng Ye, Joseph Davide, and Natallie Marshall (2nd picture) and Smithtown High School East students, Daanish Bassi, Jolene Cao, Neal Cusumano and Anagh Gupta are among a group of academically talented students who represent less than 1% of United States high school seniors.
"The entire high school west community is beyond proud of this incredible accomplishment,” Smithtown High School West Principal Holl exclaimed. “Congratulations to this amazing group of students."
"This is just another example of how talented our students are here at East,” Smithtown High School East Principal Robert Rose added. “I couldn't be more excited for them."
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a nonprofit organization that awards scholarship to high school seniors annually. Semifinalists are chosen based on preliminary SAT scores. Finalists will be chosen based on an essay written by the student, a recommendation from a high school official, and grades and SAT scores that align with the student’s PSAT score.
Approximately 1.3 million students from 21,000 high schools nationwide applied to the competition. Approximately 16,000 students are named semi-finalists and 15,000 move on to the final round.
Of the 15,000 finalists, there will be 6,870 Merit Scholarship winners and 710 Special Scholarship recipients, which will be announced starting in April.
