Three Mansfield ISD students have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, an honor given to less than 1% of high school students in the country.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and college scholarships. Scholars earn the distinction of semifinalist based on their top scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Congratulations to Nicolas Bindel from Mansfield High School, Hailey Chuong from Lake Ridge High School and Lawrence Wang from Mansfield High School.

Out of more than 1.6 million entrants nationwide, only 16,000 students are selected as semifinalists. In February, 15,000 of those students will be named finalists. About half of those finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship worth thousands of dollars.

Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The academically talented high school seniors are selected based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.

The National Merit Scholarship Program was founded in 1955 to identify and honor scholastically talented American youth and to encourage them to develop their abilities to the fullest. Learn more about the program.