RFH's National Merit Scholars Attain Top PSAT/NMSQT Scores Nationwide

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) has turned out some top scholars lately.

RFH senior Leela Srinivasan being named a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program; and, six students have been honored by the College Board for their scores in the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), a release from RFH said.

Srinivasan's accomplishment places her in the top 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide, among 16,000 of the highest scorers from each state, it added.

As a semifinalist, Srinivasan can now submit a detailed scholarship application and be considered for finalist status, the release said.

Those who earn finalist status will be notified in February, 2014. They will then be eligible to compete for one of 2,500 $2,500 National Merit scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. National Merit Scholarship winners are announced by the College Board from April through July, 2014.

In addition to Srinivasan, six seniors attained the next rung of top status as "commended students" in the program, the release said. They are: William Kyle Burnett, Jacqueline Gottuso, Ralph DelNegro, Reghan Pattwell, and Connor Swikart.

The six are among 34,000 nationwide, having earned scores that place them in the top 5 percent of high school seniors.

To qualify for the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program honors, about 1.5 million high school juniors from more than 22,000 schools nationwide entered by taking the 2012 PSAT/NMSQT, the initial screen of program entrants.

The six RFH students will get letters of commendation and be honored at the November Board of Education meeting.