VHHS students named National Merit semifinalists

After taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT, which is a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship, 17 Vestavia Hills High School students were named as semifinalists in the competition.

The National Merit program saw upwards of 1.5 million students take the exam, and fewer than one percent of students who take the test are chosen as semifinalists based on their high scores.

Semifinalists from VHHS include: Lana Chen, Allan Feng, Emma Henderson, Edward Huang, Connor Johnston, Pum Koo, Manning Owen, Hannah Precise, Greta Chen, Anastasia Sorochinsky, Caroline Stair, Graham Thompson, Charles Trotman, Samantha Warner, Sherry Wu, Keene Zhang and Angela Zheng.

The PSAT tests students on various skills to assess college and career readiness, and can be taken in the 10th or 11th grades.

Finalists for the National Merit competition will be announced in early 2017, and those chosen as finalists are eligible for significant college scholarships.

Vestavia Hills City Schools announced in a release that this is the second time in three years that VHHS has had the highest number of semifinalists in the state, and that more than 45 semifinalists have graduated from VHHS since 2014.

"The National Merit program provides students with unprecedented college opportunities," school guidance and college counselor Oliver Aaron said in the release.