By Amanda Thomas
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Seniors Joleen Contillo and Jessica Kawana scored in the top 5 percent in the nation on the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT). Both received a Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), recognizing them for their achievement. “I hadn’t expected anything like that; I was very excited once I figured it all out,” explained Contillo in response to receiving the letter. “Mostly, I just felt honored to be recognized,” added Kawana.
The 50,000 students with the top scores in the nation received a letter last school year stating that they were either a commended student or a semifinalist. Semifinalists are within the top 16,000 students and continue in the competition for National Merit Scholar. Contillo and Kawana were among the 34,000 commended students to be recognized, meaning they will not advance in the competition for finalists.
Although Contillo and Kawana will not continue in the 2012 competition for National Merit Scholarships, they have received an honor that many do not.
“As commended students they have been placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2012 competition by taking the 2010 PSAT,” explained College and Career Counselor Denise Yamamoto. Contillo and Kawana are hoping that their letters of commendation will help boost their chances of being accepted to their top choices of prestigious colleges. Contillo hopes to attend either Columbia or Princeton University, while Kawana is applying for schools such as Carnegie Mellon and Willamette University.
Though Contillo and Kawana didn’t have much formal preparation for the PSAT, their challenging courses throughout high school helped them prepare. “The things that helped me the most were the courses I took throughout high school. I had taken a number of gifted and talented and advanced placement courses; with these comes advanced learning as well as test practices,” explained Contillo of what she did to prepare for the PSAT.
Although commended students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, Contillo and Kawana have the opportunity to become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.
