Nine Mustangs become National Merit finalists

By Courtney Hughey
Staff Writer

Each of this year’s nine National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, seniors Brett Buckstaff, Alec Lautanen, Diane Lee, Anne Monique Pace, Prerana Poddar, Jack Rosenberg, Brian Sydow, Jane Tian and Brian Zukotynski, were named finalists on Feb. 9 based on their junior year Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.

To be named a finalist, each semifinalist filled out an application that included a counselor letter of recommendation, his or her SAT score, a personal essay and a list of extracurricular activities.

“It was an honor to be selected as a finalist for the scholarship,” Pace said. “I am really proud to represent Mira Costa.”

Along with a high PSAT score, a student must show exceptional academic achievement and community involvement to qualify as a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship.

“I am glad that receiving a National Merit Scholarship will help me get into a lot of colleges that I applied to as well as aid me financially,” Buckstaff said.

From the period of March until mid-June, about 8,300 of the National Merit finalists will be honored as winners and will receive one of three types of scholarships offered through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

“We are all very proud of the finalists,” Vice Principal Jaime Mancilla said. “Given the caliber of student that each of them are, it is a well-deserved honor.”