The National Merit Scholarship Corporation selected 20 seniors as National Merit Semifinalists Wednesday.

Approximately 16,000 students from across the country are picked as semifinalists, with students chosen based on their PSAT scores.

The number of semifinalists from Harvard-Westlake follows a downward trend: last year, 26 seniors qualified, and in the year prior 31 students were named.

In 2013, a record 54 Harvard-Westlake students were named semifinalists. 

This is the second year in which students have taken the redesigned PSAT, which contains evidence-based reading and math sections worth 760 points each.

Seniors took the PSAT last October. To qualify as a semifinalist, students must have earned a Selection Index of 222 or above; the index is calculated by doubling the sum of students’ evidence-based reading and math scores.

According to the NMSC, the semifinalists have the opportunity to compete for 7,500 scholarships, worth more than $32 million.

The list of semifinalists in the Class of 2018 is below.

Diego Ayala

Jordan Barkin

Gina Choi

Kylin Feng

Simon Gilbert

Anna Gong

Eleanor Halloran

Angel Hoyang

Nicole Kim

Sarah Lee

Vivian Lu

Kitty Luo

Jarett Malouf

Aaron Park

Adin Ring

Mason Rodriguez

Zachary Swartz

Pavan Tauh

Sammy Tufeld

Anthony Weinraub