Five Chaminade High School seniors have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Pictured above, Drew Kuroda, Colin Dunn, William Dean, Michael Rinaldi, and Jacob Wood were notified of their selection Wednesday. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, 1.6 million students from 22,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
Of those students, Drew, Colin, William, Michael, and Jacob earned some of the highest scores on the exam. They are among 16,000 students across the U.S. to achieve semifinalist standing. 7,500 scholarships will be presented to students who must meet additional standards after rising to the finalist level. In addition to their academic accomplishments, these Chaminade students dedicate their school experience to a number of apostolic, academic, and athletic activities.
The semifinalists hope to study at Vanderbilt University, Boston College, the University of Virginia, and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Drew is looking at Yale University for forensic science.
"It's like solving a puzzle – looking at the evidence, seeing how it relates, and trying to piece it all together," he said. "Math and science are my two favorite subjects, too, and Chaminade has given me a solid foundation to explore both further."
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will announce finalists later this school year and winners in the spring. Those who attain the scholarship are awarded various financial totals.
"At Chaminade, we aim to form the whole man, not just the student in the classroom," said Mr. Daniel Petruccio, Chaminade's assistant principal of guidance. "The scholarship may begin with an exam, but selection in the final rounds considers the whole student: his academic success, his character, and his involvement in activities after and outside of school. We celebrate these five young men for the recognition of their hard work in and dedication to everything they do."