EDUCATION

Five Coronado High seniors in El Paso make National Merit Scholarship semifinals

Cristina Carreon
El Paso Times

Five El Paso students were recognized for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship this year — and all five were Coronado High School seniors.

The students are semifinalists in the prestigious academic scholarship competition.

Seniors qualify for the scholarship based on their preliminary SAT scores taken last fall during their junior year.

Luke Miller, who was born and raised on the El Paso's West Side, said the possibility of getting a high enough PSAT score to qualify for the scholarship was always in the back of his mind. Now all Miller has to worry about is writing a strong enough essay to push through to the finals.

"It's a really big honor," Miller said. "Obviously throughout high school I've seen the one or two who have gone for the district from the city every year and it's always been a goal of mine."

There were 16,000 semifinalists this year, in an event where high school seniors competed for around 7,600 scholarships worth more than $30 million. The scholarships will be awarded next spring. 

El Paso's 2021 National Merit Scholarship honorees 

  • Minseo Kim
  • Samuel L. Kligman
  • Christina L. Li
  • Christian N. Lomarquez
  • Luke Miller

About 90% of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, according to the National Merit Scholarship's website. Roughly half of finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar title.

Finalists will compete for $2,500 National Merit Scholarships. Approximately 180 colleges and universities could additionally finance roughly 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend their institutions. 

National Merit Scholarship winners for 2021 will be announced between April and July. 

Coronado High was the only high school in El Paso with students who achieved semifinalist status. The seniors scored in the top one to two percent of test takers in the state, Coronado High School Principal Marc Escareno said in a news release Thursday.

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Cristina Carreon may be reached at ccarreon@elpasotimes.com and @Cris_carreon90 on Twitter.