New Ulm High School senior Henry Albrecht was named as a 2026 National Merit Scholarship semifinalist earlier this year.

NEW ULM – New Ulm High School senior Henry Albrecht was named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

In order to be considered for a Merit Scholarship award semifinalist, an applicant

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Albrecht was one of 16,000 named as a semifinalist this year.

Albrecht said he initially took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) as a way to practice for SAT and ACT-style testing. Albrecht said his father, who was also a National Merit Scholar in high school, advised him to take the PSAT. He said it was worth the effort to take it.

Albrecht said he spent more time studying for the SAT than the PSAT. There are no straightforward ways to study for the PSAT.

“A lot of it is just practice tests, practice questions and reviewing,” he said.

Albrecht said PSAT is broken into half math and half reading. For the National Merit qualifier, the reading scores and worth twice as much.

Albrecht admitted the hardest part of tests like these is are the grammar sections. The definition and reading comprehension sections were okay, but remembering how a comma splice works was a challenge.

“I really don’t have that down,” he said. “So I am reviewing grammar rules.”

Even with the practice tests, he said, the PSAT covers such a wide range of questions, there is no great way to improve and prepare.

“A lot of it comes down to your ability to recall information you already know,” he said.

The other factor is that the PSAT is a timed test. Albrecht said that because there is a limited amount of time to take the test, it is important to know when to move on from a difficult question.

“When I am taking a test, I try not to overthink answers,” he said. “That’s a big pitfall for me, spending too much time on one topic.”

Once Albrecht has an answer down, he avoids second-guessing the answer. By doing that, there is a risk of getting hung up on a question and possible making a change that’s not necessary.

Albrecht took the PSAT in October 2024. He received the results a month later. Albrecht knew his score was high, but he was not sure if he made the cutoff for semifinalist status until later. After learning he made the semifinalist status, he was able to submit an application for National Merit Finalist. That application was submitted in the second week of October.

While he waits for the results to return, Albrecht is busy looking into different colleges. Currently, he wants to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Albrecht plans to Major in biochemistry with a minor in philosophy. His later plans are to attend medical school to become a cardio-thoracic surgeon. This is a surgeon who specializes in the heart, lungs and esophagus.

Albrecht said the medical profession runs in his family. His father is an ER doctor in New Ulm; his grandfather was a family practice doctor before retiring and his uncle is a radiologist.

“I’ve been really inspired by how they have been able to impact people in the community around them,” he said. “I think it is important to help people and that would be the best way for me to do it.”