Eight Forsyth County High School seniors are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program, according to the program's news release obtained by Patch.

"Recognizing outstanding achievement is one of the greatest highlights our district has to participate in, said Dr. L.C. (Buster) Evans, Superintendent of Forsyth County Schools, in an e-mail to Cumming Patch. "Once again we have eight of our outstanding seniors that have performed at a highly competitive level at a national basis. We congratulate them, their families and teachers on being named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, which puts them in an elite group of 16,000 academic stars nationwide."

Those students are:

• Ethan Smith, Forsyth Central High School
• Jackson Hicks, Pinecrest Academy
• Paul R. Enger, West Forsyth High School

The following seniors are from South Forsyth High School:

• Junghyun Kim
• Maksym G. Kolenov
• Tyler M. McGee
• Vinay Srinivasan
• Taylor M. Tai    

"We are extremely proud to recognize the five outstanding students who have been named National Merit Semifinalist," said Jason Branch, Principal of South Forsyth High School. "At South, we continually challenge our students and staff to lead the nation in all that they do. Clearly, these five students and the teachers that have prepared them for success have taken that charge and met that challenge. Great teachers, great students, and a great community lead to great accomplishments! This recognition certainly falls into that category."

The nationwide pool
 of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. The semifinalists are chosen based on their PSAT (Preliminary SAT) and NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying
 Test) scores.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. The student also has to submit an essay and information about participation and leadership in school and community activities.

About 15,000 semifinalists, of the 16,000, are expected to advance to the finalist level and compete for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million. 

The National Merit Scholarships Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, was created and began the annual program in 1955 to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.

Winners will be announced in April.