La Serna High School seniors Cole Aedo, Ian Brennan, Kelvin Chong and Katelyn Nye have been recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars for being among the top 34,000 students in the nation to receive high scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
National Merit Scholarship participants are selected based on how they score on the exam taken during junior year. Of the 1.6 million students who took the exam for a chance to earn the prestigious recognition and $2,500 scholarship, 16,000 were selected as semifinalists and 34,000 top scorers received a commendation.
Brennan’s score on the PSAT subsequently earned him honors from the National Hispanic Recognition Program and prepared him for the SAT, where he achieved a 1540 score.
“I studied for two months and pushed myself to strengthen every skill I needed to work on, even if that meant reading and writing whole essays during the summer,” Brennan said. “I could not be prouder of my progress and growth due to my hard work.”
Brennan’s interests are in science and performing arts. He is a member of several campus clubs and community service programs.
An AP Scholar with Distinction, Aedo plans to attend MIT and major in physics. The student-athlete has participated in university-sponsored science programs and camps to strengthen his science skills.
Nye, this year’s ASB president, plans to pursue a career in chemistry and dreams of attending Stanford, USC or Penn State. She is active in several clubs and has earned AP Scholar with Distinction honors.
Chong has earned Top 25 honors each year for his academic record and is a member of the varsity tennis team, serves as a physics and biology tutor and regularly volunteers in the community.