By Sammy Robben
Sports Writer

A Coppell High School record 21 seniors are 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist, joining a group of 16,000 qualifiers nationwide. The previous highest number of semifinalists was 20.
Each year, juniors take the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test, hoping to gain a spot on the coveted National Merit Scholar list. Only one percent of high school students across the nation get chosen as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists.
“Being a semifinalist means that all that spent studying and taking practice tests has been worth it,” senior semifinalist Caroline Kersen said.
Coppell’s record number of semifinalists is seen as evidence of the academic excellence at CHS.
“It is a real a real feather in our cap because it shows the rigor of the education that you can get at Coppell, and the opportunities as far as what we offer help kids to do very well on a standardized tests that measure students across the nation,” counselor Debbie Fruithandler said.
The semifinalists make up less than one percent of the all the students in the nation. All of the semifinalists will find out in February whether or not they will be finalists and should know by April if they qualify for a scholarship. For many, these scholarship open many doors and new opportunities for their future.
“I was really hoping to make National Merit Scholar because some of the colleges I am applying to have pretty big scholarships for merit scholars,” senior semifinalist Zeb White said. “It is opening doors to colleges that I can now afford, especially schools like Baylor, which is a very expensive private school that offers a lot of money for National Merit Scholars.”
Many of these top-scoring students know the work that has to be put into these tests to receive the honor. Many use PSAT study books, vocabulary flashcards and practice tests to help themselves prepare for it. For many, the strategies they used during the test are also a reason fro their success.
“For some people they are naturally good at taking that kind of test, and others are just naturally smart,” White said. “I had to do a lot of preparation. I did a lot of practice tests at home and that helped me because I was really familiar with the questions on the PSAT. During the test using a watch was helpful because I could keep track of the timing. You cannot go into it think about it as ‘this is a major test’. You have to just go into it doing your best. ”
The CHS semifinalists are as follows:
Raga N. Ayyagari
Katherine Begland
Elizabeth E. Dean
Nisha Dhanik
Ryan B. Duan
Janet J. Han
Nimit Kasliwal
Caroline Kersen
Daniel Kim
Cinnie N. Lin
Linfeng Lu
Haley C. Madigan
Patrick T. Monaghan
Nicolaas B. Moolenijzer
Shannon Nguyen
Sai Panguluri
Michelle J. Pitcher
Chia-Lin C. Tu
Zeb White
Hanson L. Wu
Zachary Zhou

Staff Writer Kristen Shepard contributed to this story.