(L-R) President Katy Prebble, Julia Urban ’17, Brittany Menjivar ’17, Jessica Falcinelli ’17,
Emmie Stratakis ’17, and Principal Melissa Huey-Burns
The Academy of the Holy Cross recognized 2017 National Merit Semifinalist and National Hispanic Scholar Brittany Menjivar ’17 and Natinoal Merit Commended Scholars Jessica Falcinelli ’17, Euthymia "Emmie" Stratakis ’17, and Julia Urban ’17 at the conclusion of the all-school Holy Cross Day assembly on Friday, September 16.
About 1.6 million juniors entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as the initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Finalists are selected from the Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition and will be notified in February.
Every year, the National Hispanic Recognition Program recognizes approximately 5,000 of the 250,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the PSAT/NSMQ.
National Merit Commended Scholars placed among the top five percent of students who entered the 2017 National Merit competition. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.