29 West High seniors named National Merit Finalists

29 West High seniors were named National Merit finalists, breaking the school’s record.

Hanah Kitamoto, Print Co-Editor-In-Chief

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation selected the finalists of the National Merit Scholarship Program. Out of approximately 16,000 semifinalists announced in September, 15,000 were named as finalists. To become a finalist, those named as semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, including a recommendation by a high school official and an essay.

West High Principal Mitch Gross announced the winners via Twitter and the finalists were also recognized in a YouTube video.

The following West High seniors were named as National Merit finalists:

Paras Bassuk

Amol Bhagavathi

Timothy Cui

Connor Curtiss

Nathan Deyak

Nathan Gall

Ann Gao

Brenda Gao

Jenny Geng

Tamara Hamzeh

Katie Hoefer

Mohan Kumar

Jim Li

Amy Liao

Andy Lu

Kevin Lu

Alice Meng

Nina Meng

Dominic Rutkowski

Ananth Shyamal

Divya Shyamal

Matthew Steinbronn

Quincy Tate

Vladimir Tivanski

Niyati Vyas

Alexander Wang

Lucy Westemeyer

Omkar Yadav

Taejune Yoon