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RYE, N.Y. Fourteen Rye High School seniors achieved recognition in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program based on academic achievement, the district said Thursday.
Five students earned semifinalist status and nine were named Commended Students, based on their scores on the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition that chooses scholarship winners nationwide based on their test scores and abilities, skills and accomplishments.
Elizabeth Emanuel, James Goldszer, Richard Hardis, Ross Mulerrin and Miranda van Dijk are among 16,000 semifinalists out of 1.5 million students nationwide who entered the National Merit competition. They will now be considered for finalist standing and scholarships.
If any of the students are named finalists, they will be eligible to receive one of three types of Merit Scholarship Awards. The program selects winners among the finalists based on academic record, information about the schools curriculum and grading system, two sets of test scores, a high school officials written recommendation, information about the students activities and leadership, and the finalists essay.
Commended students Ryan Ackert, Amanda Ciardiello, Melissa Fulenwider, Emma Jennings, Catherine Livingston, Audrey Love, Holley Secon, Joseph Viger, and Michael Beveridge received Letters of Commendation in recognition of their academic promise. About 34,000 students nationwide received this distinction.
Rye High School students are accustomed to national recognition. Last year 24 seniors from Rye High School earned honors in the National Merit program. The school ranked 72nd in the country and 11th in New York in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 list of the Best High Schools in America.
In 2011, Rye students earned an average score of 1,782 (577 in critical reading, 606 in math and 599 in writing) on the SAT, compared to the state average of 1,460 (485 in critical reading, 499 in math and 476 in writing).
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