Over 150 million Juniors take the PSAT every year. Out of these test-takers, 50,000 high scorers are reviewed. Then 16,000 Juniors are chosen to be named semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship, one of the most coveted scholarships in the country.

Brookfield Central boasts multiple semifinalists each year, and the Class of 2019 semifinalists were revealed earlier in September: Katherine Liu, Andrew Kim, Sabrina Huang, Amy Cao, Vincent Li, Rajat Mittal, Reena Yuan, and Daisy Chen.

After the long wait from last October to September of this year, the students’ curiosity was finally satisfied. Yuan states, “I was very happy to receive the letter, especially after waiting for months to see if I would qualify.”

Upon receiving the news of his accomplishment, Li’s reaction was simple. “I felt good,” he says, “hard work paid off.”

The National Merit Scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the United States, and almost all colleges reward additional scholarships to those of semifinalist or finalist status.

For future test takers, Mittal recommends at least one practice test before going in for the real thing. “Take a standardized test like the SAT or ACT before the PSAT to familiarize yourself with the concepts,” he suggests.

Finalists will be chosen in January of next year.