4 Immaculate Heart Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Four Immaculate Heart High School seniors have been named 2013 National Merit Semifinalists, the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday in a news release.

About 16,000 semifinalists nationally compete in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The students will compete for about 8,300 scholarships worth more than a total of $32 million. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to make it to the finals; just more than half of the finalists will win a scholarship.

The students will be judged by their scores on standardized tests, their grades, an essay and extracurricular activities.

Semifinalists were determined by their scores on the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as 11th graders. Only those who scored in the top 1 percent of their state were named semifinalists.

About 1.5 million high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT last year.

Here are the National Merit Semifinalists from Immaculate Heart High School:

• Marissa Cornelius
• Chae Y. Eun
• Katherine S. Hughes
• Colette R. Toal

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program, according to a news release from the nonprofit organization. The scholarships are provided by the organization and about 440 businesses and educational institutions.

—City News Service contributed to this report.