TOWSON, MD—Twenty Baltimore County Public Schools students from eight high schools have been named semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program coordinated by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The honored students are:

Catonsville High School
Jessica L. McDivitt
Eleanor G. Queeney
Ellen K. Schumacher

Dulaney High School
Mir Saif Hossain
Victoria S. Jin
Gautam Maybhate
Sreesaisowmya Potluri
Sarah S. Shen
Benjamin P. Yin

Eastern Technical High School
Mary E. Kumcheva

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology
Spencer C. Lawrence

Hereford High School
William J. Holbrook
Sydney C. Jenkin
Rachel E. Rowe
Derek G. Wu

Perry Hall High School
Erick Y. Kim

Towson High School
David R. Heffren
Irene J. Sung
Aaron H. Tan

Western School of Technology and Environmental Science
Abdullah M. Shuaib

“Congratulations to these outstanding BCPS students for their academic achievement and to the teachers, families, and administrators who taught, challenged, and supported them,” said Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “These students represent schools from across our district and represent the potential we see every day in all of our students, in all of our schools. Recognitions such as this inspire all members of the BCPS family to set and reach higher goals.”

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools applied for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by participating in the 2018 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 7,600 National Merit Scholarships.

Through its longstanding partnership with the College Board, which administers the PSAT/NSMQT, BCPS provides funding so that all students in Grade 9 can take the PSAT 8/9, all students in Grades 10 and 11 can take the PSAT/NSMQT, and all Grade 11 students can take the SAT – all at no charge to the students or their families. The PSAT test provides practice for the SAT and provides BCPS educators with important assessments of student strengths and challenges.