By Jason Moore, Great Hearts Content Producer

Three seniors from Scottsdale Prep, a Great Hearts Academy, have been selected as National Merit Finalists. Grace Horner, Raywon Kim, and Travis Santa have each been recognized as one of the 15,000 highest scoring entrants of the PSAT, qualifying them for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program as finalists of over 1.5 million entrants.

Grace Horner will attend the NAU Honors College and will receive the Lumberjack Scholarship, which covers full tuition for four years. Horner will study forestry and may potentially minor in art. She took many practice PSAT exams to prepare and attended in-person prep classes at Scottsdale Education Center.

Raywon Kim plans to study political science and is waiting to hear back from colleges on his acceptance. Kim suggests putting yourself in the testing environment prior to test day by taking practice exams at the time of day in which you will be taking the official PSAT or SAT. He also utilized Khan Academy for SAT prep. Kim says, “The time on test day will go by quicker than you expect, so make sure that you are on a good pace and not spending too much time on any one passage.”
Travis Santa plans to study business and may attend the University of Mississippi or Arizona State University but is waiting to hear back from other colleges. Santa adds, “Juniors should prepare for their PSAT, because being named a National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist can result in many scholarship opportunities.”

“Grace, Raywon, and Travis are three of nine National Merit Finalists in the Great Hearts Network this year,” says Great Hearts Director of College Counseling, Roslyn Fletcher. “Other finalists were named at Cicero Prep, Chandler Prep, North Phoenix Prep, and Glendale Prep. Scoring in the top 1% in the state of Arizona is a very realistic goal for many juniors across the Great Hearts network. We expose our high school students to the PSAT early by administering the official PSAT to all 10th grade students across the network. This exposure along with encouraging students to utilize free, personalized test prep through Khan Academy generally result in 6 to 12 Semifinalists/Finalists each year. National Merit Finalists typically have the opportunity to pursue merit scholarships that cover full tuition and sometimes even more at many institutions across the country.”