Education

By Vanessa Tolino, Cypress Woods High School and Tatiana Pena, Cy-Fair High School (A High School Journalism Network collaboration)

The National Merit Scholarship program recognized 23 CFISD students as National Merit Semifinalists. These students are in the top 1% of all PSAT test-takers in the entire nation.

There are two sections of the PSAT: Section one being reading and writing and section two being math. The highest score one can achieve on the PSAT is 1520, with each section equaling to 760 maximum points. Those with higher scores earn the chance to be nominated as a National Merit Semifinalist.

The following students have been named National Merit semifinalists:

Sophie Huang, semifinalist from Cypress Woods High School, shared how her study methods led her to acquire this nationally recognized achievement.

“I knew that I wasn't good at math, so I focused a lot on that,” Huang said. “I took the actual SAT in August before the PSAT, and I was going to take the actual SAT again in November, so I was also studying for that.”

Along with reviewing the exam’s potential contents, some students chose to focus on building strategies to use on the test itself.

Bowen Yang, semifinalist from Cypress Woods High School, has a method to ensure he doesn’t experience “test day nerves” or feel any anxiety prior to taking the test.

“Just approach it as if I get [a good score], I do,” Yang said. “If I don't, I don't. Just do your best, try not to feel the pressure.”

Anh-Vu Nguyen, semifinalist from Cy-Fair High School, agrees that students become nervous and make more mistakes as the timer on their computers keeps ticking down.

“The time constraint,” Nguyen said. “Having to read that much in that amount of time is really hard.”

Being a semifinalist allows students to be eligible for several scholarships and opportunities provided by universities such as the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University. However, becoming a finalist automatically guarantees the student a $2,500 merit scholarship. To become a finalist, semifinalists must fill out a National Merit Finalist student application, obtain recommendation letters and write an essay.

Source: CFISD

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