Three Utica Community Schools students are among only 16,000 U.S. seniors to be named 2025 National Merit semifinalists.

UCS semifinalists are: Riley Brimm and Adeline Paul, of the Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies, and Julia Myslimaj, of Eisenhower High School/Utica Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology.

National Merit Semi-finalists are among the top one percent of the nation’s high school seniors.

More than 1.3 million students of the Class of 2025 entered the National Merit Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test during their junior year. The nationwide pool of semi-finalists includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

To move from semi-finalist to finalist status, students must submit a detailed scholarship application. The application includes information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership, an essay, record of consistently high academic performance, a recommendation by an official of their high school and SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance.

Finalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,870 National Merit Scholarships totaling $26 million next spring.