The National Merit Scholar Program, which is open to all U.S. high schools, recognizes students who show excellent performance on the qualifying test. Senior Lexi Kurt was one of 16,000 thousand students recognized as a semifinalist this year.

Q: What colleges are you looking at?

A: [TCU] is on my list. There are also a few others, but at this point it depends on where I get in and how much money I get from each place.

Q: Do you think being a National Merit semifinalist will change your college decision?

A: I don’t really know so much about it honestly, but I think even just putting that on my application helps with scholarships. Even if I don’t get the specific ones for the National Merit competition, I think schools will still give more money for it.

Q: How did you prepare for the PSAT?

A: I prepared first by taking it my sophomore year just to get a feel for what score I had, and I knew I had to get my score up a little. But it kind of showed me that I was close enough. I also used the practice book that they gave us in Guidance.

Q:Did you know that you were a semifinalist before they announced it in school on Sept. 14? 

A:Yes, I think Mrs. Schmidtberger and Mrs. Engen sent my mom a voicemail and she was playing it for me. They were very excited. 

Q:Has this been a goal of yours for a long time?

A: Definitely yes. When I was taking the test, I obviously wanted to do well. Somehow, I think I am a good test taker. My mom drilled it in my mind that I could do it, so of course I was going to try.