Seniors Rachel Teper and Nicholas (Cole) Tsang of The Overlake School were recently recognized as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

This award is the result of their scoring in the 99 percentile on the PSAT test in November 2013. There were more than 1.5 million students who took the PSAT and only 16,000 scores in the 99 percentile, which represents less than 1 percent of all high school seniors across the country.

Teper and Tsang now have the opportunity to compete for scholarships from both colleges and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. This competition includes the students submitting a detailed scholarship application that includes a written essay, information about their academic record, participation in Overlake school activities as well as community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced this spring.