Thirteen Jesuit Students Named National Merit Finalists

“Education fuels the flame that burns from the lamp, which is shown resting on a base that represents the Book of Knowledge.”

This explanation of the logo of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation provides images of a flame, an image of longevity and creative energy. Early this September, The National Merit Scholarship Corporation notified its selection for the Semi-Finalists, a list consisting of about 16,000 students (about one-third of high-scorers) from around the nation. This year, thirteen Jesuit students were selected by the prestigious organization as Semi-Finalists.

For Rafael Anguiano ’16, relief was the first and foremost emotion for him when he found out he was a semi-finalist because “with national merit comes the option of really cheap [undergraduate] education.” He adds, “Student debt terrifies me, so the opportunity to enter working age completely free of debt really takes a weight off my shoulders. Plus, it makes a nice [post-graduate] education really viable for me.” In terms of the college search, this award “heavily affects my college choices, because now places like OU, which offer full rides and a load of other benefits, seem really appealing.”

Contrastively, Senior Sam Betanzos’ first emotion was doubt because he “thought the College Board had made a mistake, since I got a much higher score on the math section than I anticipated. But as the day went on, the surprise shifted to satisfaction. I was really proud of my achievement and I felt lucky to be a part of the select group of students who can call themselves National Merit Semi-Finalists.” Although the recognition for his PSAT score does not alter his choice for his college career, Betanzos believes that “Being able to add “National Merit Semi-Finalist” to my list of achievements definitely makes me a bit more unique to college admissions officers, but I have to remember that a large group of high school seniors across the country received this honor, and that test scores don’t necessarily make or break a college application.”

Josh Cobler ’16 “was super ecstatic when I got my PSAT score back—it was just one of those things that really validated the preparation I was doing for a little over a year.” Cobler echoes the sentiment of relief because he found comfort in knowing “that in my last shot at taking the test, I managed to get my score right where I was hoping to get it.” Cobler trusts in the fact that “becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is helpful not only for the pretty significant award on my college applications, but also for the fact that I’m in the running for a $2000 scholarship.” Cobler, along with 15,000 other semifinalists, will potentially receive further recognition by being named finalists in February.  This opens a lot of doors for Cobler; however, he continues to look at the same schools by saying, “I’m hoping to get into a couple pretty selective schools and programs—specifically Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown’s international health program in their School of Nursing and Health Studies, and UT’s Plan II honors program—so while National Merit Semifinalist won’t necessarily be the sole reason I would get into any of those schools, it’ll certainly help!”

For Alonso Espinosa-Dominguez ’16, his award was expected due to a great amount of effort. He explains, “Well, I did expect it once I got my score. Before then, I would not have been terribly surprised either way, although I do believe I had at least an implicit expectation I would get it.” In the midst of the application process, Espinosa-Dominguez recognizes that although “there are some schools that offer a ton of money to NMS winners,” there are only a select few that offer an attractive program for the mathematical field that he plans on pursuing. 

Along with the confidence in the award shown by his classmate, Liam Finn ’16 explains that the award “was expected of me,” but not for the reason you’d think. He explains, “I am second-generation National Merit from my mom, and one of my cousins who I am very close with also received the award a couple of years ago.” One of thirteen from Jesuit alone, Finn accredited “all the great teachers we have had here throughout our Jesuit high school lives” to his success as well the success of his classmates. In conclusion, Finn has begun to “consider some new schools as backups because of the generous financial aids packages they offer. If I don’t get into my first choice, it would make a big difference when deciding between other schools.” 

Nick Fox ’16 feels as though he “had determined that if I made the same amount of progress from sophomore to junior year as I had from freshman to sophomore year, I just might have a chance. So, I wasn’t so hopeful, but I knew it would be exciting to receive it.” On the other hand, Fox says that “Though I was excited, I was a little reluctant to let a test I took my junior year determine my acceptance into schools and any scholarships I could receive, instead of all of the work I was going to school for. However, seeing the opportunities it has opened for me has renewed my excitement for it.” Now that the award has been granted to him, Fox’s top choice is Oklahoma University “because of the National Merit Scholarship they provide. If I decide against Oklahoma, I am also more seriously considering A&M, as well as some out-of-state engineering schools.”

Thomas Horton ’16, after the test, felt very confident from the start. Yet, Horton added that “You really never know though, and I’m a big believer in not having your expectations too high, so there was still some element of surprise when I found out.” After being named a scholar, he “was mainly proud and excited immediately after finding out. After that wore off, I was just really curious about what the award really meant for me, what opportunities it posed.” Horton seeks to capitalize on an expanded “reach as far as college affordability goes, as a lot of schools give scholarships for this award.” This confidence allows Horton “to apply to more selective universities since I feel like it makes me a stronger candidate.” 

Before the day of the test, Sanjeeva “Praneeth” Kalva ’16 “wasn’t too sure if I would get it because I was borderline on most of the practice tests I took before the real one. After the exam, I felt pretty confident so I thought there was a chance I would get National Merit.” Kalva also thinks that “the biggest door it has opened is that I can now get some scholarship money for every year of college which will decrease the burden on my parents a little. Also, some colleges have their own scholarships and honors programs for Merit Scholars so it’s definitely helped me in that sense.” Referencing colleges that seek National Merit Scholars, it’s opened doors for Kalva in that “its has made me slightly more confident in some of my applications to very selective to schools like Stanford and MIT. It also got me to consider schools like USC that really value National Merit Scholars.”

Senior Ryan Murray surprisingly thought he had ” done poorly, so I was pretty surprised when I got my scores back last year.” Like almost all of the scholars, the recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation ” has definitely opened up lots of opportunities for scholarships. For example, I wasn’t considering OU before, but now it is one of the schools at the top of my list because they offer basically a full ride to National Merit Semi-Finalists.”

Sam Musso ’16, approached the test by studying for the SAT, but “never expected to get National Merit because it is a very difficult award to get.” He elaborates, “I studied for the PSAT like I was studying for the SAT in hopes that if I was prepared for a harder test, I could have a reasonable expectation that I could possibly win the award.” In terms of the college search, Musso sees that “This opportunity has given me the chance to attend meetings with other national merit scholars at colleges and get to know other interesting people. Also, the award opens up many scholarships to colleges such as A&M and OU.” 

Clay Phillips ’16 felt as though he had performed to the best of his ability after the test due to the fact that he had earned a qualifying score sophomore year.” Phillips believes, however, that “you can’t really be sure when it comes to things like this; just a couple missed questions could be the difference between qualifying and falling short, so I was still definitely a little uncertain.” Phillips went on to say that “this opportunity, as a scholarship, will have decreased my college tuition at least by a little margin come next fall, which is a huge benefit.” 

John Sauer ’16, after the test, “was very happy and proud of [himself], but not surprised.” Sauer made sure to recognize “that my hard work finally paid off and that my parents would be very proud of me for doing well.” Aside from the potential for a $2000 scholarship to finalists in February, Sauer sees this as an advantage to “a 40k scholarship at A&M, which I am taking very seriously because that would almost entirely pay off an engineering degree at a very good school.” Sauer also commented that he “felt that I was quite lucky to get a score that qualified me for National Merit.”

Senior Jacob Wilson, unexpecting of the award, took numerous steps towards achieving the title of National Merit Scholar. He explains, “I did a lot of prep for it and was scoring pretty consistently in the high 190’s, I think I broke 200 once out of all the practice tests I took, so I was really stressed going into it.” Lone behold, Wilson’s scores held up and he felt as though “a weight was taken off my shoulders.” Wilson also comments that “some state schools that I wouldn’t have considered otherwise are offering huge scholarships, which have caught my attention. It has also opened my options to higher-tier schools that I wouldn’t have had much of chance of getting into otherwise.”

In agreement with the logo of the Corporation, all scholars have lit their own respective flames with this award, one that lights the path to future academic accomplishments. Please take a moment to congratulate these students on their well-deserved accomplishment.

2015 National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists: Rafael Anguiano, Samuel Betanzos, Joshua Cobler, Alonso Espinosa-Dominguez, William Finn, Nicholas Fox, Thomas Horton, Sanjeeva Kalva, Ryan Murray, Samuel Musso, Charles Phillips, John Sauer, and Jacob Wilson.

SOURCES:

NMSP Website – http://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php