2/27/2024 -- Eighteen Parkway seniors have been named finalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship program. These students represent less than 1% of high school seniors in the United States. The Parkway students are:

Central High
Ajay Eisenberg
Rachel Li
William Lian
Manan Sharma
Akshaj Variath
Matthew Wehling

North High
Phillip Pernik

South High
Owen Gao
Srivalli Koya
Allen Zheng

West High
Michael Emerson
Audrija Ghosh
David Hawiger
Rajeshwar Jaladi
Serena Liu
Aristuto Paul
Norah Rutkowski
Santosh Sahoo

All finalists will be considered for National Merit Scholarship awards in the spring. To become a finalist, students must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. A finalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

In the fall, approximately 16,000 students nationwide were selected as semifinalists, and 95% go on to become finalists. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $28 million.