Ward Melville Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Six Ward Melville High School seniors are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program, according to the program's list of finalists obtained by Patch.

Those students are Robin M. Caselli, Kevin Chen, Shannon P. Csorny, Emmanuel J. Kim, Alexa E. Krupp, and Ilana L. Scandariato.

"I commend these students for achieving this prestigious designation," said Ward Melville principal Dr. Alan Baum. "Being named a semifinalist in this competition is an outstanding honor and a true testament to their dedication to their studies. I look forward to continuing to hear great things about them in the future."

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of all U.S. high school seniors. Semifinalists are chosen based on their PSAT scores, a test taken during their junior year.

Suffolk County had over 30 semifinalists out of the one million students who took the exam in 2009. Semifinalists will go on to compete for 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, collectively worth $36 million.

To become finalists, semifinalists must have outstanding academic records throughout high school, be endorsed by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test, in addition to submitting an essay and information on leadership in school and community activities.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in April. The program began in 1955 to honor the nation's scholastic champions and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.