Three Canyons students who are preparing to walk across the graduation stage on June 5 have finished their high school years on an impressive academic milestone: They have been named 2018 National Merit Scholars.

Hillcrest High’s Kara Komarnitsky and Madeline Martin are joined by Corner Canyon High’s August Burton on the list of the $2,500 scholarship winners from Utah. They are among the 2,500 students who rose to the top of the field of 15,000 semifinalists to earn the honor. This year, 14 students from all five of Canyons District’s traditional high schools earned semifinalist status.   

National Merit Scholars are selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. Applicants are judged on their academic records, including the rigor of the classes taken during their high school years; scores from standardized tests; contributions and leadership at their schools; and involvement in the community. Finalists also penned essays.

The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors

The awards mark the end of an arduous application process.  Students vying for National Merit Scholarships start the journey in October 2016. That’s when more than 1.65 million juniors in some 22,000 schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This served as an initial screen of the entrants.   

Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. Of the 16,000 semifinalists, some 15,000 students met the academic standards and other requirements to earn finalist status in the scholarship contest.