12 WHS Students Named National Merit Finalists

The following article was compiled from a press release from Wilton High School.

All 12 Wilton High School students who were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in September 2022 have been named finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. 

Seniors Lucy Beach, Justine Biersack, Garret T. Bouvier, Aaron Griffin, Avni Gupta, Vihan Jayawardhane, Gayathri Kaimal, Lukas Koutsoukos, Henry Rowley, Sean Thomas, Thomas F. Welch, and Joshua Zheng have met all requirements to advance to finalist standing.

These academically talented students took the fall 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) as juniors. Last September, 16,000 students from around the country — less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors — were named National Merit semifinalists as part of the program’s 68th year. Of those, over 15,000 were identified as finalists.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes evidence of an academic record of very high performance, endorsement by the school principal, SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier qualifying test performance, a self-descriptive essay and evidence of the student’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

These students are now eligible for approximately 7,250 National Merit Scholarship awards recognition worth nearly $28 million that will be awarded in spring 2023. 

Approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

National Merit Scholarships

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2023. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 950 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 180 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2023 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 368,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.