Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced the selection of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including two Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School student pictured here: Isaiah Rogotzke and Isaiah Carlovsky. The academically talented seniors have an opportunity to continue in the scholarship competition for one of the 7,250 National Merit Scholarships that total almost $28 million. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship, students must score high enough on the October PSAT/NMSQT they take during their junior year. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and represent less than the top 1% of each state’s high school seniors.