Senior Aashray Mandala has been awarded national merit semifinalist. 

“It was a nice email during the day,” he said. “As I got my score last year, I knew that I would be in the range for becoming a semi finalist based on the scores previous semi finalists had.”

The national merit scholarship is awarded to students who are within the top 1% of test takers. This qualification opens up many options for schools around the country. Aashray’s hard work has allowed him to consider schools such as University of Michigan, and various schools along the East Coast. 

Aashray has put in lots of effort to get to where he is. His parents have been a great influence as they have always encouraged him to work hard in school, but “[He does] put in long hours of studying when [he] needs it,” he said. 

To those going in to take the test, Aashray offers some expertise that may be helpful: “Practice, practice, practice,” he said. “Take multiple practice tests in timed conditions, but most importantly, [students] should analyze the mistakes they made during the practice test so they never repeat them on the actual test.”