Administration holds ceremony for National Merit Scholar Semifinalists

Michael Todd

Online News Editor

Costa honored 12 senior National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists on Sept. 18, based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.

The semifinalists are seniors Joseph Cohn, Noah Geller, Alexander Gist, Mason Ibrahim, Thomas Kelleher, Ray Kim, Alexander Le, Peter Lu, Jennifer Miao, Josephine Qi, Jonathan Scalabrini and Lauren Schlick.

“This is the most semifinalists Costa has ever had,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “It is just amazing to me that every year I am surprised at how much better our kids do.”

Administration notified the semi-finalists on Sept. 18 and students were excused from their first period class to attend a celebratory event honoring their accomplishments in the College and Career Center.

“I feel quite honored to be a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist, especially when you look at the strong pool of Costa Semifinalists,” Scalabrini said. “Hopefully, the award will lead to a scholarship for my college education.”

Approximately four million students across the United States took the PSAT in October of 2016, including the 12 Costa semifinalists. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation awarded the top 1.5% of students as National Merit Semifinalists and the next 3% are given commendations.

“We have a lot of smart kids at Mira Costa. It is not just a small group of elite,” Dale said. “I have been here for a long time and I am constantly amazed at what [Costa] students can accomplish.”

Those who are semifinalists receive scholarships from organizations and businesses that sponsor the National Merit program. The Costa National Merit Scholars will be announced and recognized at Costa graduation in June.

“It is really cool to be recognized for my academic achievements at such a competitive school,” Gist said. “It is amazing to represent Mira Costa because there are so many super smart students. Being  a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist is a great responsibility to have.”

The semifinalists will find out via mail if they will be National Merits Scholar Finalists in February. Finalists will receive a portion of the National Merit Scholarships, which is a total of approximately 33 million dollars towards college.

“Being recognized for my academic achievements is an amazing feeling,” Lu said. “Being a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist is something I am proud of, and something that will help me in my college acceptance and beyond.”