Grapevine-Colleyville ISD is proud to recognize the 17 members of the Class of 2023 who have been named National Merit Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Over the past 12 years, GCISD has celebrated the recognition of more than 200 National Merit Semifinalists.
Congratulations to this year’s 17 GCISD National Merit Semifinalists:
Collegiate Academy
Claire Gruman
Colleyville Heritage High School
Macsen Casaus
Abbey Chen
Luke Radandt
Brian Shaik
Ashlyn Wright
Grapevine High School
Nithya Budda
Elyssa Chandler
Yiyi Ding
Sean Mahon
Molly Meyer
Akshaya Mohan
Haley Munoz
Emily O’Neill
Kavya Shah
Nathan Wilson
Ethan Zhou
Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and write an essay.
Those that advance to the Finalist level will be notified of this designation in February. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference