15 Ladue students achieved semifinalist standing in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

In October 2012, 1.5 million high school juniors nationwide took the PSAT. The PSAT, or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, is meant to serve as an indicator of a student’s score on the full SAT by testing the same content, only with a shorter exam.

However, for many students, SAT prep is anything but the main reason to take the PSAT. The main reason for these students to take the test is to achieve National Merit.

The National Merit Scholar Competition, or NMSC, is an annual search conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Program, NMSP, in order to find America’s best, highest achieving scholars. Each year, approximately 1.5 million juniors start the process by taking the aforementioned PSAT, technically referred to as the PSAT/NMSQT, or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Next, the 50 thousand highest scorers in the nation receive either the title of “Commended Student” or “Semifinalist.”

Recently, NMSP nominated 15 Ladue Class of 2014 students for semifinalist standing. Ladue celebrated these achievements by hosting a recognition ceremony in celebration of the following students’ accomplishments: Enze Chen, Stella Schindler, Eric Zhu, Shira Morosohk, Justin Cole, Ben Zhang, Katherine Campbell, Mike Figenshau, Luke Song, Sam Crowder, Emily Chu, Jialin Ding, Emily Biest, Caleb Rosenthal, and Robert Marshall.

Each of the 15 students could choose a single teacher who made a significant difference in his or her life. After students selected one of their most admirable teachers, the teachers attended the ceremony to display their appreciation towards their students’ determination, hard work and achievements.

The ceremony also included brief speeches by superintendent Donna Jahnke, Ladue Horton Watkins High School principal Brad Griffith and LHWHS college and career counselor Scott Cornwell.

Consequently, NMSP will verify with Ladue that semifinalists meet academic and other requirements. All approved students will continue in the competition to become finalists. NMSP will then provide all scholars with scholarship applications. Next, out of all remaining students, 8300 will receive one of three kinds of merit-based scholarship: NMSP-sponsored, corporate-sponsored or college-sponsored scholarship. Although scholarship winners will not be notified of their winnings until March, all 15 of Ladue’s recognized semifinalists, and their respective teachers, currently await the competition’s results.

The high-achieving Ladue student semifinalists serve as a symbol of not only student success, but also the Ladue School District’s success in educating.

Many of Ladue’s current juniors eagerly await their turn to take on the PSAT in hopes of advancing their own academic success.