The National Merit Scholarship Program announced on Wednesday, September 13, that four King School students were named semifinalists for its 69th annual competition.

Congratulations to Class of 2024 students Catie Harvey, Max Krueger, Spencer Neckritzt, and Jack Zipper, who all moved closer to winning the prestigious scholarships. The students follow in the footsteps of their peer Ben Persily ’23, who, earlier this year, became the first King student ever to win the scholarship. 

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as an initial screen of program entrants. According to Wednesday's announcement, being named a semifinalist puts these students in a pool of less than 1% of high school seniors. 

"I am so proud of each of our four semi-finalists,” said Director of College Counseling Jessica Landis. “Based upon their outstanding academic and co-curricular achievements, they will be strong contenders to move onto the finalist stage." 

Next, the students must meet several requirements, including submitting a detailed application, writing an essay, and maintaining an outstanding academic record and leadership and service in the community. Students who make it to the finalist round will be notified in early February 2024, and winners will be announced in March.