Five local students rank semifinalists in National Merit Scholarship Program

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Five students from Dos Pueblos and San Marcos High School made the semifinals in the National Merit Scholarship program.

Four of the winners came from Dos Pueblos High School. This included Ajay Nandwana, Jay Miller, Victoria Chen, and Anastasia Li.

At San Marcos High School, Rhett Selby also qualified as a semi-finalist.

The nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Juniors in high school entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The amount of semifinalists per state is proportionate to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

The program will give 7,140 scholarships next spring. For more information on the National Merit Scholarship program, visit their website.