14 Haverford-Area Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

HAVERFORD-HAVERTOWN, PA — More than a dozen seniors from Haverford and Havertown have been named 2021 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, taking the first step in one of the nation's most highly selective scholarship competitions.

These 14 stellar students are among 16,000 nationwide that were chosen from a pool of 1.5 million. Students who took the 2019 PSAT were automatically entered into consideration.

From the pool of 16,000, some 7,600 will be chosen next spring as finalists.

Below are semifinalists from the area:

The Haverford School

• William J. Dodds
• Jonathan A. Flieder
• Benjamin M. Fosnocht
• Weizhen Gao
• Maxim H. Kreider
• Cyril Leahy
• Brian E. Williams

Haverford High School

• Meghan Arey
• Karen G. Buchanan
• Ian L. Kratzinger
• Benjamin F. Morse
• Elizabeth Sweitzer
• James P. Tsukada
• Emma A. Whittaker

To move onto the finalist round, students are judged based on an application covering their academic record, leadership abilities, employment, participation in school and community activities, and honors and awards received. Students must also write an essay be recommended by a high school official.

Over 90 percent of the semi-finalists will be named as finalists for the scholarship. Of those finalists, about half will win a scholarship.

Students will find out in April 2021 whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will be announced beginning in July 2021.

Scholarships fall into three categories: the state-based $2,500 National Merit Scholarships, roughly 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships, and 4,100 college-sponsored scholarships.