Ladue Horton Watkins High School is well-represented in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition.
Twenty-nine LHWHS seniors were named semifinalists in the competition that provides scholarships to the nation’s top scorers on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) typically taken during a student’s junior year.
The assessment evaluates students in the areas of Reading, Writing and Language, and Math.
Of the 1.6 million entrants each year, around 16,000 with the highest test scores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program as Semifinalists.
Students then are invited to apply for a National Merit Scholarship and hope to earn Finalist recognition by meeting high academic standards, providing information about their activities and leadership, being recommended by a school official, and writing an essay.
Around 7,600 Finalists are notified that they will receive a Merit Scholarship Award, which is available in three forms: a $2500 National Merit Scholarship, a corporate-sponsored scholarship, or a college-sponsored scholarship.
The 29 Semifinalists from Ladue Horton Watkins High School are:
- Natalie Ashkar
- Ashna Chali
- Harry Chen
- Nicolas Chicoine
- Samuel Cobin
- Gabriel DiAntonio
- Jason Ding
- Diya Diwakaran
- Austin Gage
- Huamin Gao
- Ari Gottesman
- Grace Hu
- Stephen Jiang
- Shriya Koneru
- Walter Kornfeld
- Louis Li
- Jacob Page
- William Pan
- Caroline Powell
- Marina Sha
- Noah Smock
- Darren Teh
- Joshua Wolk
- Lauren Xie
- William Xie
- Jason Xu
- John Yeldham
- Eric Yin
- Alexander Zhou
Finalist honors will be announced in February, and scholarship awards will be announced beginning in March.
The National Merit Scholarship Program began in 1955 and relies on independent support from approximately 400 sponsors which underwrite a majority of the scholarships.