by Katie Parkinson

Senior Kate Sanders has been named a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist. This honor is based on a student’s junior year PSAT scores. Sanders is one of about 16,000 in the nation. In order to become a National Merit Scholar finalist, Sanders must submit an application, write an essay, take the SAT and receive a score that is on par with her PSAT score, and become endorsed by a school official.

Sanders found out about her National Merit Scholar semi-finalist status in late August.

“I couldn’t even believe it at first, but I was really excited,” Sanders said. “Once I got home I told my parents, and I was kind of jumping around and screaming.”

According to Sanders, the best way to achieve a high PSAT score is to know what is going on in class in general and to know what what the test is like.

“At that point [last year,] I was reviewing for the ACT,” Sanders said. “So I was just doing things like going over my math notes from earlier years and my English notes. I actually went over the test from the year before too.”

If Sanders becomes a National Merit Scholar, she will be eligible for scholarships which will help with college. Sanders plans to apply to Missouri University of Science and Technology, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, MIT, University of California- Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Princeton, and Stanford.

“For me, it’s a real honor to be able to represent STA in this, and I look forward to there being a bunch of girls next year [who will do the same],”Sanders said.