3 Westlake Students Named National Merit Finalists

WESTLAKE, OH — Westlake High has three National Merit Finalists. Seniors Seohyun Choi, Teagan Walsh and Eric Kronz will be competing with 15,000 other students nationwide for scholarships.

The National Merit Scholarship program begins with 1.6 million entrants. Juniors qualify for the program when they take the PSAT. Less than 1 percent of high school students become National Merit Semifinalists.

To go from Semifinalist to Finalist, students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores which confirm the student's performance on the PSAT. Students must also submit an essay and information about their participation in and leadership of school and community activities.

From a pool of 1.6 million students, about 15,000 National Merit Finalists are eventually selected. Those students will have the opportunity to compete for 7,500 scholarships, worth more than $31 million collectively. Half of all National Merit Finalists will win a scholarship, earning them the title "National Merit Scholar."