Oxford High School seniors Nitin Ankisetty, Shawn Chao and Rebecca Anne Hardy are among an elite group of high school seniors who are semifinalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation officials recently announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Semifinalists are selected based on their scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in their junior year. Semifinalist status is awarded to the students from each state who scored the highest on the exam and is proportional to the state’s percentage total of graduating seniors.

The three academically talented Oxford seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring. Nationwide, about 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win National Merit Scholarships, earning the Merit Scholar title.