Seven students from Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Santa Barbara high schools are semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program.

Winners include Rhett Selby from San Marcos High School; Ajay Nandwana, Jay Miller, Victoria Chen and Anastasia Li from Dos Pueblos High School; and Benjamin Hashim and Addison Sweeney from Santa Barbara High.

Dos Pueblos High School Merit Scholars Ajay Nandwana, Jay Miller, Victoria Chen and Anastasia Li.
Dos Pueblos High School Merit Scholars Ajay Nandwana, Jay Miller, Anastasia Li and Victoria Chen.
San Marcos High School Merit Scholar Rhett Selby.
San Marcos High School Merit Scholar Rhett Selby.

High school juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

“It is so impressive to receive this recognition of academic excellence,” said Superintendent Hilda Maldonado. “These students make us proud, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”

“Having these students earn this prestigious distinction makes us extremely proud, especially considering the disruption of their first two years of high school due to the pandemic,” said Bill Woodard, principal of Dos Pueblos High School. “Congratulations to these hard-working and talented students.”

“We are extremely proud of Rhett and look forward to the amazing things he will accomplish,” said Dare Holdren, San Marcos High principal.

The program gives 7,140 scholarships next spring. To be considered for the award, students must show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.