11 WHS seniors named National Merit scholars

Westlake High School National Merit Scholars are: (front row) Chloe Chen, Molly Finucane, Teagan Walsh, Yusra Albarghouthi, Seohyun Choi; (second row) Nathan Hsiao, Richard Garger, Eric Kronz, Jack Williams, Ayah Aldosari and Benjamin Routhier.

Eleven Westlake High School seniors were named scholars in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Seniors Seohyun Choi, Richard Garber, Eric Kronz and Teagan Walsh are among the 16,000 students across the country who took the PSAT in their junior year and earned scores high enough to qualify as Semifinalists. These students will move on to compete for approximately 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.

Seniors Yusra Albarghouthi, Ayah Aldosari, Chloe Chen, Molly Finucane, Nathan Hsiao, Benjamin Routhier and Jack Williams are among the 34,000 students to be named National Merit Commended Scholars for their outstanding academic promise. These students can become candidates for special scholarships provided by corporate and business sponsors.

More than 1.5 million juniors from about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. Less than 1 percent of high school seniors make it to the semifinal round.