Westfield High School seniors Benjamin Carroll and Jaclyn Schillinger have been named semifinalist in the 2013 National Merit Semifinalists Scholarship Program.
Carroll, the son of Darren and Rene Carroll, plans to major in astrophysics, but is undecided where he will attend college. Schillinger, the daughter of Jeffrey and Teresa Schillinger, is also undecided on where she will attend college but plans to double major in engineering and studio art.
Both students are now eligible for National Merit Finalist status, competing for 8,300 scholarship awards worth $32 million. Less than 1 percent of high school seniors earn this recognition, for outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT) taken in their junior year.
Approximately 16,000 high school seniors were named 2013 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, from more than 1.5 million juniors entered in the program. Finalists will be announced in spring 2013. About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
