Three Cor Jesu Academy students have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and seven have been named National Merit Commended Students.

Kathleen Russell, Kate Seaton and Kelley Storey have been named National Merit Semifinalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program while Kathryn Blanquart, Christina Correa, Clare Davies, Clare Fentress, Amelea Kim, Catherine Peetz and Rose Thomson have been named National Merit Commended Students.

Roughly 16,000 semifinalists were announced in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1.4 million juniors in nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2008 National Merit Program by taking the 2006 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $34 million.

About 34,000 Commended Students nationwide are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who took the 2006 PSAT/NMSQT.