Whiz Kids: Port Jeff High School Students Make Semifinals in Scholarship Program

Names: Allison Cluett, Cole Conte and Weien Xu

School:

Accomplishment: Three students from Port Jefferson High School have been named semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. Seniors Allison Cluett, Cole Conte and Weien Xu are part of the approximate 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who will compete for 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

To move on to the next round and become a finalist, the three students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application including an essay and information about the student's participation and leadership in school and community activities.

Key to Awesomeness: The students excelled in a variety of academic areas and  took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screening of program entrants.