National Merit Scholarship finalists, John Daoud (’17), Johnny Nguyen (’17), and Johnson Huynh (’17), all gleaming with pride at their newfound accomplishment. Photo by Jamie Pham.by Laura Le, Staff Writer, & Celine Hoang, Social Media Editor
This year, three seniors from Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) were recognized as National Merit semifinalists.
The National Merit Scholarship Program awards students for their academic achievements through a process which starts with the Preliminary Scholarship Aptitude Test (PSAT), also known as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It is essentially a scholarship provided for students by a variety of different organizations through the National Merit Scholarship Foundation.
The three semifinalists from FVHS from this year’s senior class are John Daoud (‘17), Johnson Huynh (‘17) and Johnny Khoa Nguyen (‘17). In order to qualify for the scholarship, each high school student must score in the top 1% percentile of the PSAT, meaning that only about 15,000 students nationwide are eligible to become a finalist.
Daoud first heard about the scholarship through friends and family. Daoud doesn’t have a first choice college, and would like to attend wherever he gets accepted. To him, being a National Merit semifinalist is an exciting opportunity, but believes that anyone can become a semifinalist.
“I don’t know, the night before the test I went to bed early, and when I woke up, I didn’t do much studying—they give you a study packet, and you could look at it, but that’s it! I woke up and I took the test. As long as you’re confident in your own ability to achieve, you’ll do fine,” said Daoud.
For Huynh, he first heard about the scholarship from his college counselor, and decided to apply for the National Merit Scholarship to help cover his tuition costs. He is the captain of Academic Decathalon, and his dream school would be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In his spare time, he likes finding stand up comedy jokes, performing improv with his friends and watching comedy movies.
“Be the best version of yourself. [The] PSAT is associated with lots of hard work and test-taking skills. If you think you can even have a chance at the scholarship, take it. Study hard, think critically and last but not least, be yourself. That part comes in handy when you get into the personal statement part of the application. Remember, you’re picking them not the other way around,” said Huynh when asked about advice for the students who will take the PSAT.
Nguyen believes that being a National Merit semifinalist is a great opportunity and honor because it gives him more opportunities to receive scholarships. His dream school would be Stanford because he has visited the school, and thinks the campus and the environment is amazing. His eyes are also on Claremont McKenna or Harvey Mudd because they are very strong academic schools, and has received offers to play on their soccer team. His goal is to play collegiate soccer. Nguyen also looks at the Ivy Leagues and other private schools because of the financial aid.
“Each year is different, but California’s cutoff score is very high, so you’d have to perform really well on the PSAT in your junior year. Effort is the only thing you can control, so just try your best,” said Nguyen.
