Eight seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in the 69th annual academic competition.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a yearly academic competition that awards high-achieving students college scholarships and prestigious recognition. The competition receives over 1.3 million applicants per year, according to nationalmerit.org.

Students are entered by taking the Preliminary SAT. It is a test that is required for all sophomores and juniors to take, but only junior year test scores are submitted to the competition. The process is highly selective, with only 34,000 students receiving Letters of Commendation, 16,000 being named semifinalists and 15,000 being named finalists.

Semifinalists of the October 2022 test comprise the top 99th percentile of scorers in their respective states and were announced in September 2023. Finalists will be announced in February 2024.

Students chosen as National Merit Finalists will be considered for the program’s robust scholarship opportunities. Around 50 percent of the selected finalists qualify as Merit Scholar awardees, with scholarships amassing to over 35 million dollars.

“Applying for a finalist spot is something we highly encourage semifinalists to do,” said Peter Olympia, Director of College Counseling.

Greenhill gives its students a unique edge when it comes to achieving high academic honors, with robust math, science and English programs. Students feel as though the school greatly contributed to their success on the test.

“[Greenhill] provided me with a strong foundation to build upon, both in reading comprehension and my math skills,” says senior Seth Lee.

According to Director of College Counseling Keith Todd, Greenhill is “very fortunate” to have many students being recognized as both commended or a semifinalist.

The following senior students were recognized as National Merit Semifinalists:

Vivan Gupta

Pranav Joshi

Riya Kommineni

Seth Lee

Sophia Li

Ayne Park

Aditya Pulipaka

Pooja Sanghvi