Hawken Leads Area Independents in Number of Merit Scholars

Fifteen Hawken students have earned the status of Semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, making Hawken the leader in number of Semifinalists amongst Cleveland area independent schools. Congratulations go to the following seniors: John Borokhovich, Ann Feke, Dylan Herts, Brian Huser, Alec Lai, Dana Lee, Andrew Macklis, Rajiv Mainthia, Samuel Milner, Girish Pendse, Jacob Sachs, Quentin Smith, Ari Sunshine, Paige von Mehren and Noah Whitehead. Congratulations also go to seniors Madeline Bell, Sam Benson, Alex Ferris and Aaron Hung, who qualified as National Merit Commended Students. Hawken tied for fourth in the state in the number of merit semifinalists behind Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, St. Xavier High School also in Cincinnati and Shaker Heights High. Each of these three schools has a high school enrollment nearly four to five times larger than Hawken`s, making Hawken`s accomplishment that much more impressive. Click here for a link to the Plain Dealer story announcing the news. Approximately 16,000 students were selected from more than 1.5 million nationwide who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Merit Semifinalists represent less than one percent of each state`s eligible high school seniors, who, having earned top scores on the test, are vying for one of 8,200 National Merit Scholarships. Though Hawken`s four \"Commended\" students do not continue in the scholarship competition, they were also recognized for academic promise and may become eligible for special scholarships. To move to the finalist level of competition, students must have superb high school academic records, have the backing of a top school administrator and earn SAT scores mirroring their performance on the PSAT. Nearly 15,000 students are expected to advance. At the Finalist level, students must demonstrate leadership in school and community activities through a biographical essay along with a scholarship application. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the administering organization, will begin announcing winners in April.