Congrats to National Merit semifinalists

Tarrant County high school students are making us proud.

Congratulations to the 108 local students who are semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship program, a prestigious academic achievement.

“A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test,” says a National Merit Scholarship Corporation news release.

About 1.6 million juniors nationwide entered the program, with only 16,000 making the semifinalist cut.

“These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring,” says the news release.

The National Merit Scholarship “is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955.”

The qualifying Tarrant County students should be proud, even if they don’t advance to finalist or winner.

Getting this far in the process is impressive — a feat worth celebrating.

Keep up the great work.

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Congrats to National Merit semifinalists."