A select few of Aliso Niguel’s highest achieving students have been selected as semifinalists of a scholarship based on exemplary academic performance. These students scored incredibly high on last year’s PSAT and now are in the semifinals for a scholarship from the College Board.
Every year, the PSAT is offered to all sophomores and juniors at Aliso Niguel High School.
The PSAT stands for the Prelimary Scholastic Assessment Test and is offered to students throughout the nation who wish to prepare themselves for the SAT. For sophomores wishing to take the test, the PSAT is only a taste of what is to come during their junior or senior year, when the students are able to take the actual SAT.
For juniors however, the PSAT is taken just as seriously as the SAT, because the PSAT is actually an early way for juniors to receive scholarships.
The Preliminary SAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a paid test, administered by the College Board. This is the same organization that governs nationwide AP classes.
Once the PSATs are scored, the top most achievers of that year’s PSAT are entered into the runnings for a scholarship.
Mrs. Nguyen, one of the College Counselors at Aliso Niguel, spoke about the high achievers saying, “they scored so high, compared to all students. It’s the top 1% of about 16,000 students across the country.”
These students not only did well on the PSAT, but in fact scored within the highest percentile in the nation in order to be put in consideration for the scholarship.
While these statistics seem impossibly hard to reach, Aliso Niguel High School hosts several students who have met the requirements of the past year’s PSAT. Of the thousands of students across the country, six of Aliso’s current seniors have been entered into the semifinals.
The six students are: Jayme J. Chen (12), Lea Choe (12), Arnab Ghosh (12), Cooper G. Lee (12), Aidan J. Scherffius (12), and ArtemisYang (12).
This array of exceedingly intelligent students is incredibly impressive, not only because they are similar in age to most high schoolers, but most importantly because they all attend Aliso Niguel High School. These students’ feats may seem unimaginable to many, but they were taught by the same teachers many of Aliso Niguel’s students will also be taught by, demonstrating the caliber of the teaching staff found at Aliso.
For many, a chance to take the PSAT or SAT has passed. If you are a senior, and did not meet the requirements, you may still be able to receive a merit based scholarship.
Scholarships are reductions in overall costs of colleges and universities given by schools and large organizations. Normal merit based scholarships are not hard to receive. Mrs. Nguyen said, “all universities will grant merit based scholarships based on different metrics…most schools will consider students for merit based scholarships when they apply.”
For many, this is good news. Application is completely taken out of the picture as many colleges and universities seem to willingly give out scholarships to those they feel have worked hard enough, academically, to deserve it. For further information contact Mrs. Nguyen in the College and Career Center.
Aliso Niguel High School hosts a large number of exceptionally diligent students, some of which are the smartest in the country.
