National Merit Finalists

The National Merit Scholarship Program has announced nine University School seniors as finalists in the 2015 Competition for National Merit Scholarships. One University School senior has also been named a finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. Eight of the finalists started their journeys at US's Lower and Middle Schools.

The National Merit finalists are:

Akshay Bhardwaj
Nathan Fakult
Stephen Gillinov
Samuel Heater
Jeffrey Holland
Joseph 'Hal' Juster
Chandler Koon
Solomon 'Sol' LaPiana
William Xin

University School senior Kyle Scadlock was named a finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, which recognizes outstanding Black American high school students. Kyle is among approximately 1300 semifinalists nationwide who qualified as finalists.

All of the students are among those earning the highest scores on the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Nationwide, National Merit finalists compete for 8300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million and the prestigious honor of earning the title National Merit Scholar.

Commenting on the announcement, William Daughtrey, Co-Director of the Upper School and Hunting Valley Campus, said, "These young men should be praised for such a noteworthy achievement. They have distinguished themselves in the classroom and beyond, and well deserve the national recognition for their academic excellence."

"We are very pleased that ten US seniors have been recognized by the National Merit and National Achievement Scholarship Corporations," added Jenny Rifken Fisher, Director of College Counseling. "All of these young men are bright and talented, and we look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish in college and beyond."