CSH High School wins Six National Merit Semifinalists

By Thomas Nothel

Six students at the Cold Spring Harbor Hugh School have been named National Merit Scholarship Program Semi-finalists.

The six students are Saami Ali, Kathleen Engel, Alexander Grosh, Hannah Stark, Charles Wood and Amber Zhou.

“Congratulations to these outstanding students for their dedication and commitment to achieving the highest level of national academic success,” stated CSH Superintendent Jill Gierasch. “They are role models for those students following in their footsteps and we wish them continued success.”

The six students entered the competition by taking the 2022 PSAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which served as an initial screening of program entrants. Nationwide, approximately 1.3 million students sat for PSAT. Those students identified as semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.

There are approximately 16,000 semifinalists of whom 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level where they will compete to earn National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million.

Semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application while holding an outstanding academic record throughout high school, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership skills, employment, and a list of honors and awards received.

Each semifinalist must be recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm earlier performance on the PSAT qualifying test.