National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Announced: What You Need to Know

The National Merit Scholarship Program has recently announced its semifinalists for the class of 2025, recognizing outstanding high school juniors across the United States. Each year, approximately 17,000 juniors are named semifinalists, placing them among the top performers in the country. These students are selected based on their scores in the PSAT/NMSQT, specifically their Selection Index, which is calculated by doubling the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) score, adding the Math score, and then dividing the sum by 10.

To qualify as a semifinalist, students must meet or exceed the state-specific cutoff score, known as the “cutoff.” These cutoffs vary by state and are determined by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). For the class of 2025, cutoff scores ranged from 208 to 223.

Semifinalists have the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and potentially become one of the 7,500 scholarship recipients. The selection process involves several stages, with the lists of semifinalists typically being distributed to high schools by the end of August and publicly announced in mid-September.

In addition to semifinalists, the program also recognizes Commended Students, who are among the top 34,000 scorers out of more than 1.3 million participants. These students, while not advancing to the semifinalist level, have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement.

Local schools are celebrating their students’ achievements, with institutions like Burnsville High School and David Crockett High School announcing their respective semifinalists and commended students. These recognitions highlight the academic excellence and hard work of these high school students).