Out of about 17,600 high school students across the nation named as National Merit or National Achievement Semifinalists for their performance on the PSAT, six of them attend McIntosh High School: seniors Ryan Anderson, Shelby Bock, Seth Triplett, Alexandra Schmid, Arin Stowman and David Oso.

Senior Ryan Anderson has taken the PSAT three times since his freshman year, and both of his sisters were National Merit Semifinalists. He is part of several clubs and organizations at McIntosh, such as National Honor Society and Math Team. Ryan also plays the cello in orchestra and has competed for the school swim team. In regards to his personality, he said, “I’m effervescent, personable and indomitably cheery. People enjoy my honest candor.” Ryan likes watching movies and anime, taking Asian photos and playing online games. Recently, the senior class honored him with the superlative Most Likely to Succeed. As for college, he has applied to Georgia Tech and is planning to apply to Stanford and MIT. He said, “I’m hoping to get money as a National Merit Semifinalist.”

Senior Shelby Bock, who is involved in anything music or design-related, has taken the PSAT three times. She said, “My mom told me it would be good practice, and I guess she was right. When I found out I was a National Merit Semifinalist, I was so excited and called her as soon as I left the office.” At MHS, Shelby starred as Velma Kelly in last year’s musical theatre production of “Chicago,” placed second in the talent show with her performance of “We Can’t Stop” and is involved in numerous clubs. Her senior classmates voted her Most Artistic. Even though she did not prepare for the PSAT before taking it, she has a go-to strategy: process of elimination. She said, “If I don’t know an answer, I always skip it and come back instead of stressing over it.” At the moment, she has only submitted an application to Miami but is planning on applying to USC, Belmont, FSU and GSU.

Senior Seth Triplett was pleased to find out he was a National Merit Semifinalist. He said, “I’m happy to have the chance to earn some money toward my education.” Seth has a variety of interests, including anime, manga and video games. He enjoys drawing as a pastime and also does computer programming sometimes. Music, mental puzzles and martial arts interest him. He only took the PSAT once during sophomore year when the school administered it and tried to just do his best on it without aiming for a particular score. For test-taking advice, he said, “Make sure you sleep and eat well before the test. If there is a particular subject or type of question you know you will struggle with, then practice for it. During the test, remain calm but focused, and make sure you allot enough time to answer each question.” He has applied to Georgia Tech already and will be applying to other colleges later.

Senior Alexandra Schmid is an avid year-round swimmer for MHS & SCAT, and she has been part of the yearbook staff for three years. At MHS, she is part of several organizations such as National Honor Society and Beta Club, and she also participated in the Adopt-A-Stream program for three years. She took the PSAT for the first time her sophomore year, and she also took it junior year. She said, “I had a vague idea that there were scholarships offered for high scorers of the PSAT, but I mostly took it for practice on the SAT.” When she got the good news, she said, “I was super surprised when I found out. I just sat there and stared at the letter for a while.” Alexandra has applied to Saint Louis University, UGA, Miami, Case Western and University of Denver. She has already been accepted to the first two. Alex said, “Now I have a greater chance of getting accepted to my colleges because of the competition.”

National Achievement Semifinalist Arin Stowman participates in Science Olympiad, runs, plays basketball and paints. She said, “I also like watermelon and cows.” Arin has taken the PSAT twice to try to earn scholarship status and also because she said it wouldn’t hurt to practice for the SAT. Before taking the test, she recommends a good night’s sleep, Chick-fil-A chick-n-minis and Starbucks to stay awake. On the test itself, she said, “Answer as much as you can.” She also said that Accelerated Math 2 and her 10th grade English class with Mrs. Walls helped her prepare for the PSAT and the SAT. At McIntosh, Arin is involved in Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society and Multicultural Club, to name a few. With Ryan, she was named Most Likely to Succeed by the senior class. She has applied to Alabama, UGA and Harvard so far and is planning to apply to Duke, Yale, Princeton and maybe Stanford.

Senior David Oso has worked hard to become one of MHS’s two National Achievement Semifinalists. He said, “I took the PSAT in 9th grade for the first time and did horribly. I’ve taken it two additional times since then and each time my score has increased by about 30 points.” Besides paying attention in class and having a rigorous schedule, David has other tips for students planning to score high. He said, “Try to turn your nervous energy into positive energy and get excited about the test. Sometimes I write ‘It’s Turn Up Time’ on the top of my tests and quizzes for this reason and to boost my confidence.” In school, David takes part in the Academic Team and Math Team. He reads a lot of books, does a lot of extracurricular physics stuff just for fun and can also dance. Right now, he has only applied to Georgia Tech. He said, “I’ll celebrate after I get into college when I’m able to use the scholarship money.”

According to nationalmerit.org, approximately 16,000 students have been named as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance in conjunction with over 440 businesses to honor academic excellence in students across the country.

Meanwhile, The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance. Initiated in 1964, the scholarship has been awarded to approximately 33,500 young black men and women. More than 1,600 Black American high school seniors have been designated as semifinalists.

National Merit and National Achievement Finalists will be announced in February, and winners will receive a $2,500 scholarship for higher education.