A total of 16 Bellarmine current seniors were named among the 16,000 semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Competition. These students are: Geoffrey Golan, Rijul Jain, Joel Jothiprakasam, Safwaan Khan, Robin Liu, Surya Midha, Ansh Nagwekar, Ashok Ramkumar, Joseph Sarmenta, Krishna Saxena, Kristof Sochan, Andrew Tan, Nolan Topper, Avinash Upadhyayula, Alexander Valdes, and Austin Yang.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of competition, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. In February, some 15,000 Semifinalists are notified that they have advanced to Finalist standing. High school principals are also notified and provided with a Certificate of Merit to present to each Finalist. Winners of Merit Scholarship awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.
In addition, 14 current seniors have been identified as scholars on the Class of 2021 College Board National Recognition Programs Scholars List. Those students and their respective recognition programs, are as follows: Alexander Valdes (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Maximillano Hermosillo (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Dylan Aldana-Taylor (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Jacob Gonzaga (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Roberto Davila (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Randy Esparza (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Caleb Apodaca (National Hispanic Recognition Program and National Indigenous Recognition Program), Ricardo Pedrayes (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Brennan Orman (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Lawson Flora (National Hispanic Recognition Program and National Indigenous Recognition Program), Andrew Almeida (National Hispanic Recognition Program), Oliver Jackson (National African American Recognition Program), Jaxon Sawyer (National African American Recognition Program), Erick Moreno (National Hispanic Recognition Program).
Congratulations to all on their achievements.