Sixteen Baltimore County Public Schools students from eight high schools have been named semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program coordinated by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The honored students are:

Dulaney High School
Samantha T. Engler
Sherry Guo
Abhinav S. Khushalani
Adabelle Xie
Megan Zhang

Franklin High School
Mckenzie K. Patrick

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology
Michael A. Krasnitski
Diana Liepinya

Hereford High School
Justin D. Ciemian
Tyler T. Honeywell

Loch Raven High School
Caleb A. Lacey

Perry Hall High School
Malachi M. Fowler

Towson High School
Ciara E. Donegan
Kristin M. Donegan
Olivia T. Goodrich

Western School of Technology and Environmental Science
Albert J. Ko

“We are so proud of these BCPS students for their demonstrated commitment to academic achievement and for taking full advantage of the instruction and support provided by teachers, families, and administrators,” said BCPS Interim Superintendent Verletta White. “We wish our semifinalists well as they compete for finalist ranking, and we look forward to following their post-graduate careers.”

About 1.6 million juniors from more than 22,000 high schools applied for the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program by participating in the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NSMQT®). The highest scoring entrants in each state create the national pool of 16,000 semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of high school seniors in the nation. Most semifinalists advance to the finalist level (based on their academic records, recommendations and SAT scores) and compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships.

Through its longstanding partnership with the College Board, which administers the PSAT/NSMQT, Baltimore County Public Schools provides funding so that all students in Grades 9, 10, and 11 students can take the PSAT/NSMQT at no charge to them or their families and that all Grade 11 students can take the SAT at no charge. The PSAT test provides practice for the SAT and provides BCPS educators with important assessments of student strengths and challenges.