The National Merit Scholar Corporation (NMSC) named ten Whitman seniors National Merit semifinalists Sept. 7 following extensive changes to the format of the PSAT.

The semifinalists, who now have the opportunity to compete for a variety of scholarships, are Justin Baker, Genevieve Beske, Noah Gold, Andrew Hallward-Driemeier, Sean Hwang, Tanusha Mishra, Gabriela Rifkind, Xavier Roberts-Gaal, Ella Segal and Joshua Steighner.

To determine the semifinalists, the PSAT scores of approximately 1.6 million juniors across the nation were assessed Oct. 2015 for the National Merit Scholarship Program according to the NMSC.

Last October’s PSAT was the first trial for the redesigned SAT that debuted in March. Key changes to the SAT included a 1600 maximum score, an optional essay and content changes. The PSAT featured a 1520 maximum score with no essay.

“It was definitely harder to prepare,” Genevieve Beske said. “There was not a lot of information about the test, so all of the normal test-prep companies were kind of guessing.”

Nationwide, 16,000 students were named semifinalists based on a selection index that is double the sum of their three category scores, each of which is out of 38. The selection index varies by state, and in Maryland, students had to acquire a minimum score of 221 out of a possible 228. Of the semifinalists, 15,000 will be named finalists in February, and 7,500 will be named Merit Scholars between April and July.

For last year’s National Merit Program, eight of the nine Whitman semifinalists were named finalists, and one went on to win a National Merit Scholarship.

“In the context of achievements you are sort of expected to get at Whitman, it doesn’t really stand out that much,” Xavier Roberts-Gaal said.

To qualify for a finalist position, the semifinalists must be U.S. citizens, maintain high academic performance and receive a recommendation from their principal. They’re also required to submit an application consisting of their SAT score, transcript and a personal essay, which some semifinalists said was similar to the Common Application essay for college.

The Merit Scholars will receive a combined $33 million in scholarships through the NMSC sponsored by a college, corporation or the NMSC itself.

“It would definitely be very cool to be a finalist just because of the opportunities that it might offer me,” Beske said.

Justin Baker is a feature editor and Tanusha Mishra is an opinion editor for The Black&White.