Thirty-two UHS seniors qualified as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program after taking the PSAT/NMSQT in junior year. The semifinalists are seniors Alec Apelian, Jarom Bosworth, Wendy Cao, Jessie Chen, Nathan Dishon, Nguyen Do, Xinjun Du, Moses Fleischman, Daichi Hiraoka, Kayla Hui, Sanghyuk Im, Jasmine Jung, Om Kamat, Ananya Karthikeyan, Poorvi Kheni, Maia Kopylova, Edward Li, Eric Li, Andrew Lo, Kristine Lu, John McPhie, Nathan Ouyang, Annie Qu, Julia Shabanie, James Shi, Priya Srinivasan, Jocelyn Tsai, Jialin Wang, Julianne Wu, Kairui Zhang, Oliver Zheng and Winston Zhou.

Students who score in the top 1% of the PSAT in their state become National Merit Semifinalists. They are chosen according to the National Merit Scholarship’s (NMS) Selection Index (SI), which is calculated using PSAT scores in math as well as reading and writing. This year, the cutoff was 220 for California. With only about 16,000 high school students nationwide earning recognition as a semifinalist each year, the accolade is highly prestigious and competitive.

The PSAT displays students’ academic strengths and weaknesses compared to their national and statewide peers. In addition to demonstrating a student’s college readiness, the PSAT is a valuable study resource for students considering the SAT or the ACT, given the significant overlap between these standardized tests.

Students who become semifinalists compete for the finalist award. Finalists are chosen based on a student’s SAT or ACT score that meets or exceeds the national SI cutoff, academic performance throughout high school and outstanding extracurricular activities. Each finalist will be awarded the Merit Scholarship of $2,500.

Some seniors found that their first impression of the exam matched their original expectations.

“The actual PSAT test was about what I expected,” Hui said. “I had already taken the SAT the month before, so I had a good idea about the testing environment.”

Many seniors prepared themselves for the PSAT by doing practice tests and drills in subject areas such as math and reading and writing.

“The reading section was the most time-pressing, so the practices were very helpful for finding the best strategy for me,” Shi said. “They were also great for getting into the right mindset and preparing to stay focused throughout the long exam.”

Since the baseline to qualify as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program is competitive, seniors stressed how important it is to have a study plan and maintain the correct mindset while preparing for the exam.

“I would recommend getting used to what pacing works best for you since that’s super important for a lot of standardized testing,” Lu said. “Reading lots of books and articles helps for the writing/grammar section! I would also try to stay calm and relaxed the day of and not get too stressed out.”

Seniors emphasized that standardized tests are important but do not define one’s overall abilities.

“[Your PSAT score] does not speak to much more than your ability to master the PSAT or SAT,” Kheni said. “If you have done your due diligence, then the results will come, so take it easy!”