Headliners Scottsdale Great Hearts Students are National Merit Semifinalists

By Jason Moore, Great Hearts Content Producer

Threeseniors from Scottsdale

Prep, a Great Hearts Academy, have qualified as

National Merit Semifinalists. Grace Horner, Raywon Kim, and Travis Santa have each been recognized as one of the 50,000 highest scoring entrants of the PSAT, qualifying them for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program as semifinalists of over 1.5 million entrants.

Grace will attend the NAU Honors College and will receive the Lumberjack Scholarship, which covers full tuition for four years. Grace will study forestry and may potentially minor in art. She took many practice PSAT exams to prepare and attended in-person prep classes at Scottsdale Education Center.

Raywon plans to study political science and is waiting to hear back from colleges on his acceptance. Raywon suggests putting yourself in the testing environment prior to test day by taking practice exams at the time of day in which you will be taking the official PSAT or SAT. He also utilized Khan Academy for SAT prep. Raywon says, “The time on test day will go by quicker than you expect, so make sure that you are on a good pace and not spending too much time on any one passage.”

Travis plans to study business and may attend the University of Mississippi or Arizona State University but is waiting to hear back from other colleges. Travis adds, “Juniors should prepare for their PSAT, because being named a National Merit Semifinalist/ Finalist can result in many scholarship opportunities.”

“Grace, Raywon, and Travis are three of eight National Merit Semifinalists in the Great Hearts Network this year,” says Great Hearts Director of College Counseling Roslyn Fletcher. “Other semifinalists were named at Cicero Prep, Chandler Prep, and Glendale Prep. Scoring in the top 1% in the state of Arizona is a very realistic goal for many juniors across the Great Hearts network. We expose our high school students to the PSAT early by administering the official PSAT to all 10th grade students across the network. This exposure along with encouraging students to utilize free, personalized test prep through Khan Academy generally results in six to 12 semifinalists/finalists each year. National Merit Finalists typically have the opportunity to pursue merit scholarships that cover full tuition and sometimes even more at many institutions across the country.”

In February, over 15,000 semifinalists are notified that they have advanced to finalist standing.