In October 2015, over 4 million students across the country registered to take the annual PSAT-NMSQT, a preliminary aptitude test similar to the SAT that serves as the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholar distinction.

On Sept. 14, it was announced that 31 seniors who scored in the top 1 percent will be advancing in the competition as National Merit Semifinalists.

Out of the 31,000 semifinalists nationwide, 7,100 will be chosen to be finalists in the spring. These finalists have the opportunity to receive scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and participating colleges.

The Class of 2017 semifinalists are:

Austin Cai, Sarah Chang, Hong-Hsuan (Shannon) Chen, Candace Chiang, Karena Chow, Kevin Chow, Harrison Cui, Karissa Dong, Jacqueline Han, Rachel Hsin, Chih-Hsuan Hsu, William Hu, Kyle Jew, Michelle Jiang, Sarah Jin, Raymond Lee, Nicole Lin, Daniel Liu, David Nguyen, Arnav Raha, Sanjit Rajendiran, Spencer Robinson, Naman Sajwan, Jeanna Sheen, Genghis Shyy, Katherine Sun, Miranda Tang, Neehar Thumaty, Mason Tian, Isabelle Tseng and Amulya Vadlakonda