8 Westlake Students named National Merit Semifinalists

Eight Westlake High School students were named 2014 National Merit Semifinalists in the National Merit Program.

It represents one of the highest number of semifinalists from a public high school in Ohio. 

Semifinalists Deepak Kumar, Apshara Ravichandran, Krish Shah, Sameena Khan, Jacob Wise, Paavani Reddy, Ethan Fitz and Michelle Adamczyk will move on to compete for about 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million.

They are among 1.5 million students from 22,000 high schools across the country who took the PSAT in their junior year. Less than 1 percent of high school seniors make it to the semifinal round. About 15,000 students are expected to move on to become National Merit Finalists, which should be announced in February.

Photo (left to right): Deepak Kumar, Apshara Ravichandran, Krish Shah, Sameena Khan, Jacob Wise, Paavani Reddy, Ethan Fitz and Michelle Adamczyk