15 Redhawks selected as National Merit Finalists

Aliza Porter, Staff Reporter

Once again, the school leads the way as 15 of 43 Frisco ISD students named National Merit Finalists are Redhawks.

“It is always wonderful to see our students receiving notice for academic successes,” principal Ashley Rainwater said. “It highlights our campus’ commitment to learning for both teachers and students.”

All winners of Merit Scholarship awards are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.

“I thought that it was a great way to reward students for their academic efforts,” senior finalist Aishani Sil said. “Everyone has to take the PSAT but the prospect of being a national merit finalist definitely motivates many to take the test seriously and try to score very well. Before becoming a finalist, I was notified that I was a semifinalist based on my qualifying score, so I eagerly sent in my application to be a finalist as I was super excited to possibly become a finalist.”

Merit scholarship awards are of three types: National Merit $2500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, and college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards.

“I’m honored to get to be a part of a select group of people that represents distinguished academic achievement, and proud because I did put in a lot of work into being able to score well on the PSAT and I’m glad it has paid off,” Sil said. “In general, being a National Merit Finalist opens up more scholarship and financial aid opportunities. Some schools even offer free or greatly discounted tuition for these finalists. For me, personally, being a finalist has been a great boost to my resume as well as my confidence because it has helped me learn that I am capable of achieving a lot if I put in hard work and dedication.”

With no other school in the district having more than six finalists, Rainwater is impressed with the 15 Redhawks have done.

“I am extremely proud of our national merit finalists,” she said. “From athletics to fine arts to academics and community service, our students are doing amazing things.”  

The 15 Redhawks named National Merit Finalists for 2018 are:

Deepti Aravapalli

Arihant Bohara

Havish Gattu

Aly Muhammad Hirani

Sai Susheel Koukuntla

Jin Lee

Siddhi Phenil Patadia

Rohith Perumalla

Aishani Sil

Nivan Wadhawan

Ally Hoi Ying Wong

Meghana Ann Woodruff

Daniel Jameson Woods

Charles Menghao Yang

Iris Zhang