All nine of the 2017 National Merit Semifinalists from West Hartford’s Hall High School have advanced to become National Merit Finalists.

Hall High School National Merit Finalists include (from left): Yusuf Malik, Lydia Henning, Dale Yu, Samuel Bidwell, Andrew Rosenthal-Baxter, and Edward McManus. Not pictured: Colman Glagovich, Grace Miller and Cameron Tripp. Submitted photo

Submitted by Jenny Bronson, Student Activities/Career Center Coordinator, Hall High School

The nine seniors from William H. Hall High School’s Class of 2017 who were named National Merit Semifinalists have advanced to become National Merit Finalists.

They are Samuel Bidwell, Colman Glagovich, Lydia Henning, Yusuf Malik, Edward McManus, Grace Miller, Andrew Rosenthal-Baxter, Cameron Tripp, and Dale Yu.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to progress to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of Semifinalists attain Finalist standing, and more than half of all Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

National Merit Semifinalists are the highest scorers in each of the 50 states, and scored among the top 1 percent of the approximately 1.6 million juniors who took the PSAT test in the fall of 2015.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test—a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants each year—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.