This September, thirty-three Amador seniors qualified as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship. In order to qualify, students must score in the top 1% for the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
“Every year, there’s only so many kids who get the National Merit Scholarship, and [the standard score] is not the same every year. The [NMS corporation] changes the standard every year to get the same amount of [winners] every time,” said semi-finalist Emily Choe (‘26).
National Merit Scholarship Benefits
By qualifying for the scholarship, semifinalists are exposed to a greater number of benefits when applying to college. A list recognizing all semifinalists is released to colleges and universities, giving semifinalists an advantage in their applications. Additionally, some colleges offer special scholarship options to some semifinalists even if they don’t become finalists or national merit scholars.
“What motivated me to try for the National Merit Scholarship was mainly the scholarship money that would put less of a burden on my parents to pay for my college tuition,” said Alex Tang (‘26).
PSAT Preparation
To be a National Merit Scholar, taking the PSAT is required. The test consists of two models: reading/writing and math. According to semifinalists, some of Amador’s classes can help prepare for the test – particularly with the English portion.
“I think AP Lang helped me a lot, because the MCQs for AP Lang are pretty hard. I used [AP Lang questions] for SAT prep, which in turn helped me for the PSAT, ” said Choe.
In the PSAT, the writing portion is 64 minutes long with 54 questions. The math portion is 70 minutes long with 44 questions. To practice time management, timed SAT practice tests are a tried-and-true method for stimulating the actual PSAT test.
“[Some tips for the PSAT would be to] practice and take fast tests. Make sure to be comfortable with the timing, because I think that’s the hardest part of the test,” said Rohan Garg (‘26).
Furthermore, semifinalists advise preparing for the test early, since little preparation made them feel unprepared for the test.
“I started pretty late, and I was really stressed out going into it. So [students should] start taking practice tests early so [they] know what to focus on, which can really help decrease the stress going into it,” said Choe.
NMS Semifinalist Reactions
Due to the rigor of NMS, seniors who qualified for the semifinalist ranking had various reactions to their achievement. Emotions ranged from excitement to even surprise.
“I was somewhat surprised [that I made the semifinals], because compared to my friends’ scores, it wasn’t that high – and my friends got some really good scores. [My score] wasn’t that high, but I still qualified, so [when I found out], it was surprising,” said Tang.
