We are excited to announce eight members of the Class of 2023 have been recognized as National Merit Scholars. These students make up 16% of our senior class and were honored this morning at an Upper School assembly.
This impressive academic distinction is decided by the students' performance on the 2021 PSAT. The PSAT was taken last year by 1.35 million junior students who are college bound in the United States, meaning that this is already a selective group of students who thrive and value education. Our senior class should be celebrated for their outstanding results amongst the larger population.
This morning at the assembly, Head of Upper School Gaby White shared the results of our senior class. The nationwide average assessment score was 994. The average PSAT score for the Collegiate class of 2023 was 1151, which is 16% higher than that of the national average. In addition to that, 70% of our juniors scored above the national average on the composite (Math and English) score, 72% percent scored above the national average on the English portion of the exam, and 76% percent scored above the national average on the Math portion of the test.
Mrs. White went on to say, "At Collegiate we understand how hard each of our students and faculty members work every day, how committed they are to being their best, and while one test cannot accurately tell the story, the success achieved by this class is something to be very proud of."
National Merit Commended Scholars are recognized for scoring in the top 2.5% of all who sat for the PSAT. This is an amazing accomplishment, and we are so proud of senior Tatum Bhargava for earning the distinction of National Merit Commended Scholar.
Furthermore, the top 1% of the 1.35 million test takers earn the status of National Merit Semi-Finalist distinction. Of the 449 high schools in the state of Kansas, only 45 schools had students fall in this category. Of the only 153 Kansas students earning this distinction, we are proud to announce that seven of them are Wichita Collegiate Spartans. This year's National Merit Semi-Finalists Joyita Dev, Nasseem Eldika, Satvik Kolla, Tyler Mackenzie, Kinsey Nichols, Carson Phelps, and Brandon Zhang. In the coming months, the National Merit Scholarship Program will consider all Semi-Finalists for the National Merit Scholarship.
As Mrs. White stated this morning, "It is important to recognize that not only have our Semi-Finalists and Commended students worked hard to achieve this academic honor, I want to note that each and every one of them are outstanding members of our community who lead by example and treat others with dignity and respect."
Congratulations, Spartans! We are so proud of you and this incredible achievement!