CFBISD Boasts 8 National Merit Semi-Finalists, 19 Commended Scholars

CFBISD Boasts 8 National Merit Semi-Finalists, 19 Commended Scholars

CFBISD is proud to announce that eight CFBISD high school students have been named Semi-Finalists and 19 high school students have been named Commended Scholars in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The National Merit Scholarship Program, conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships. The Program recognizes students for outstanding academic promise based on their scores and demonstrated ability on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which is typically taken during a student’s junior year of high school.

“We are so proud of these students for achieving this prestigious recognition,” said Stacy Carroll, CFBISD Executive Director of Advanced Academics and World Languages. “Their hard work and dedication along with the support of their families and teachers are evident. We are looking forward to witnessing their success in the future.”

The Semi-Finalist pool represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school graduating seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Semi-Finalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million that will be offered in the Spring.

The following students were named Semi-Finalists:

  • Maeve Durkee - Creekview HS
  • Rohin Agrawal - Ranchview HS
  • Nihal Anand - Newman Smith HS
  • Madeleine Birmingham - Newman Smith HS
  • Dhruv Kallianpur - Newman Smith HS
  • Alvin Rhaman - Newman Smith HS
  • Adam Rutan - Newman Smith HS
  • Sangkarshan Singh - Newman Smith HS

Commended students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million who entered the competition by taking the PSAT in 2021.

The following students were named Commended Scholars:

  • Sage Carter - Creekview HS
  • Anthony Lemus - Creekview HS
  • Graeme McRae - Creekview HS
  • Audrey Milton - Creekview HS
  • Adam Payton - Creekview HS
  • Raiyan Riaz - Creekview HS
  • Emma Rodriguez - Creekview HS
  • Avis Luong - Early College HS
  • Suhani Jampala - Newman Smith HS
  • Carlie Kantor - Newman Smith HS
  • Denise Robinson - Newman Smith HS
  • Rishi Sriram - Newman Smith HS
  • Rithvik Vootukar - Newman Smith HS
  • Aaron Praveen - Ranchview HS
  • Gavin Skrzynski - Ranchview HS
  • David Platt - R. L. Turner HS
  • Brooks Robinson - R. L. Turner HS
  • Sri Suri - R. L. Turner HS
  • Shrikar Tatavarty - R. L. Turner HS

To become a Finalists, the Semi-Finalists must meet several requirements such as have outstanding academic records throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the PSAT/NMSQT, and more. 

Finalists will be notified in February 2023. National Merit Scholarship winners are selected from the group of Finalists based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in college. National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in April 2023 through July 2023.  

Learn more about the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.