Barrington High Boasts 6 National Merit Semifinalists -- Tops Among RI Public Schools

Six Barrington High School students have earned the distinction of being National Merit Scholarship semifinalists this year. 

It’s the largest number of students who earned that honor at a public high school in Rhode Island. 

Timothy Connor, Cassidy Laidlaw, Emma Marguiles, Megan Verner-Crist, Cecilia Yao and Nicholas Zimmerman have each qualified to become National Merit Scholarship finalists, according to a press release from the program.

Only Moses Brown and Wheeler schools had more semifinalists than Barrington – with seven each. East Greenwich High had four semifinalists – the only other public high school in RI with more than three semifinalists, according to the press release. 

“About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants,” according to the press release.

To become a National Merit Scholarship finalist, the students must complete applications touting their academic records. Finalists will be awarded one of three types of scholarships, including a $2,500 scholarship awarded as a RI finalist.

More than $35 million in scholarships went to 8,000 finalists last year.