13 New Hyde Park Students Named 2022 National Merit Semifinalists

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — Thirteen high school students from New Hyde Park have been named semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The teens are among the 16,000 semifinalists nationwide announced Wednesday who will have the opportunity to advance in the competition to earn scholarships worth nearly $30 million.

About 15,000 of those semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist standing, and over half of the finalists will win National Merit Scholarships next spring.

Here are the students from New Hyde Park who have achieved semifinalist status:

• Chloe Chang, Herricks
• Amber Joneleit, Herricks
• Wafiq Khondkar, Herricks
• Roshni Patel, Herricks
• Pranati Patnam, Herricks
• Lamiya Rangwala, Herricks
• Keneil Soni, Herricks
• Olivia Teng, Herricks
• Kyla Ye, Herricks
• Daniel Kim, New Hyde Park Memorial
• Laurence Lai, New Hyde Park Memorial
• Christopher Liu, New Hyde Park Memorial
• Emma Ouyang, New Hyde Park Memorial

To be considered for an award, semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application with information about the student's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. Students must also write an essay and be endorsed by a high school official.

There are three kinds of scholarships finalists will compete for — corporate-sponsored, college or university-sponsored, and National Merit Scholarship Corporation awards.

Around 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships will be provided by about 220 corporations and business organizations for students who meet their criteria (e.g. being a child of an employee at the sponsoring business).

Some 180 colleges and universities are expected to fund about 4,100 awards for finalists who will attend their school. And the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's own $2,500 scholarships will be awarded to 2,500 students on a state-representational basis.

Winners will be announced in four groups between April and July 2022. These scholarship recipients will join more than 362,000 other young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.