Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools
Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program this year from Vestavia Hills High School include: front row, from left, Tashfin Abdullah, Terence Li, Kendall Feild, Caroline Tyndall, Madeline Crawford, Mengzhen Wang, Andrew Sheng and Ali Fathallah-Shaykh; middle row, from left, Allison Xie, Cuewon Kim, Timothy Li, Logan Hawley, Bryan Zhang, Ishaan Singh and Ethan Melenevsky; and back row, from left, Nicholas Snow, John Pickett, Logan Gregory, Jack Cobb, Parker Liu, Ishaan Garg and Chase Kaiser. Not pictured is Levi Griem.
At least 30 students from Vestavia Hills were named National Merit semifinalists this week.
Twenty-three of them are from Vestavia Hills High School, which had the most National Merit semifinalists of any high school in Alabama this year, while three are from Indian Springs School, three are from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and one is from John Carroll Catholic High School.
The 23 semifinalists from Vestavia Hills High School are Tashfin Abdullah, Jack Cobb, Madeline Crawford, Ali Fathallah Shaykh, Kendall Field, Ishaan Garg, Logan Gregory, Levi Griem, Logan Hawley, Chase Kaiser, Chuewon Kim, Terence Li, Timothy Li, Parker Liu, Ethan Melenevsky, John Pickett, Andrew Sheng, Ishaan Singh, Nicholas Snow, Caroline Tyndall, Mengzhen Wang, Allison Xie and Bryan Zhang.
Indian Springs School had 12 semifinalists, three of whom live in Vestavia Hills: Ibrahim Hamo, Erik Ledvina and Radyn Moradkhani. The Alabama School of Fine Arts had 10 semifinalists, three of whom are from Vestavia Hills: Zoya Aleezada, Aanchal Behara and McNair Shah. John Carroll Catholic High School had one semifinalist, William Magruder, who is from Vestavia Hills.
Photos courtesy of Indian Springs School
Three Indian Springs School students from Vestavia Hills were named National Merit semifinalists in September 2024. They are, from left, Ibrahim Hamo, Erik Ledvina and Radyn Moradkhani.
These 30 students were among 268 named National Merit semifinalists in Alabama this year and more than 16,000 chosen nationwide. More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The pool of semifinalists, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state, with the number of semifinalists in each state proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
More than 15,000 of the semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist stage in February, but only about 6,870 students are expected to receive National Merit Scholarships that will be announced in the spring of 2025.
To become a finalist, the semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application, providing information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards received.
Photos courtesy of Alabama School of Fine Arts
Three Alabama School of Fine Arts students from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, were named National Merit semifinalists in September 2024. They are, from left, Zoya Aleezada, Monisha Bommu and McNair Shah.
Those chosen as finalists also must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the students’ earlier performance on the qualifying test.
The scholarship winners are selected based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Vestavia Hills High School Principal Blair Inabinet said in a news release that achieving semifinalist status not only showcases the students’ hard work, but also embodies the school’s core values of respect, excellence, and service.
“These stellar students have respected the value of their education, pursued excellence in their studies and served as role models to their peers,” Inabinet said. “This achievement celebrates their dedication and represents a milestone on their journey to continued success.”
Photo courtesy of John Carroll Catholic High School
John Carroll Catholic High School student Will Magruder, left, was named a National Merit semifinalist in September 2024. He is pictured here with his principal, Ronald Steele.
