Three Ballard High School students and two Ingraham High School students have been named semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program.
The Ballard students are Ethan McKee, Audrey Papineau, and Harper Peters. Ingraham’s semifinalists are Caden C. Emmons and Audrey Y. Whang, according to Seattle Public Schools.
Whang was also recognized at a STEM scholar awards ceremony earlier this year, alongside students from Ballard and Ingraham high schools.
They are among 16 students from four Seattle Public Schools high schools to receive the recognition. Lincoln High School has 10 semifinalists, while Roosevelt High School has one.
The program identifies semifinalists based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. More than 1.2 million students entered the competition nationwide, and fewer than 1% of U.S. high school seniors advanced to semifinalist standing, the district said.
The recognition is one step in the scholarship competition. To be considered for finalist standing, students must submit a detailed application, maintain a strong academic record, earn scores that confirm their qualifying test performance, and receive a recommendation from a high school official.
About 95% of semifinalists are expected to become finalists. Roughly half of those finalists are expected to receive a National Merit Scholarship. The program plans to award approximately 6,700 scholarships worth a combined $24 million next spring.
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