Six South students were named as National Merit Schol- arship semifinalists. Seniors Matthew Emerson, Grace Finn, Kaitlyn Jiang, Kiera Kurt, Ayesha Syed and Shuja Raina were nominated to compete amongst 16,000 high school students nationwide for a $2,500 scholarship, the Glenview Patch reported. Only 6,870 students will be chosen, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said.

The scholarship is awarded to students who have received a 220 or above on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), which is part of the PSAT, Compass Education Group said, and students must score above their state’s national semifinalist selection index to qualify. Students take the test in the fall of their junior year with semifinalists announced during fall of their senior year, se- nior Kiera Kurt said.

Students must use the scholarships to pay for undergrad- uate college or university in the United States.

Being named as a semifinalist means that students have performed very well academically at South, Kurt said.

“I owe all my success to all my teachers who have encouraged my learning and pushed me to be the best student I can be,” Kurt said.