The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) selected over 16,000 students as National Merit Semifinalists, including 32 members of the Class of 2025. In California, students needed to achieve a score index of 221 on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) to be selected as a National Merit Semifinalist.
Seniors who are selected as National Merit Semifinalists will be able to compete for nearly $28 million worth of scholarships, which will be offered in Spring 2025, according to the NMSC website. The NMSC expects 95% of the Semifinalists to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists to win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar title.
Will Putzer ’25, a National Merit Semifinalist, said that one’s score is not indicative of them as a student.
“PSAT scores are not a reflection of academic prowess, they merely tell you about a student’s standardized test-taking ability,” Putzer said. “Viewed from this lens, being a National Merit Semifinalist has little importance. For many colleges, this is a minimal dent in a towering grand total. Becoming a Semifinalist is solely based on your selection index, which is solely based on your score.”
Upper School Dean Jesse Rueter said that being a National Merit Semifinalist is a significant achievement that could open up valuable opportunities, including the potential to become a National Merit Finalist, which could lead to substantial scholarships from universities across the country.
Many public schools, such as the University of Oklahoma, the University of Alabama, Texas A&M University and the University of Florida will give scholarships, and select private schools such as a the University of Southern California (USC) give a half-tuition scholarship for students who are National Merit Finalists. In order to become a finalist, students must first be a Semifinalist, and then apply in the fall of their senior year for finalist standing. Finalists receive a $1,000 scholarship no matter what college they go to, but certain colleges will give extra scholarships to students.
Finn Slootweg ’26 said that he decided not to take the PSAT because of the extra stress it causes for students and will not be considered for the National Merit Scholarship. Slootweg said that he doesn’t think that achieving National Merit is a necessary box to check when applying to college.
“I don’t think it’s that important for college applications to achieve National Merit,” Slootweg said. “So many people at school try to achieve it, so I think that it doesn’t really set you apart from the people that you’re most likely to be competing with, which are your classmates. Personally, I decided not to even take the PSAT because I have a lot of other things to worry about. So I didn’t really want that to cloud my focus and bring me unnecessary stress and sadness if I didn’t get a score that I thought was good.”
