Twelve MHS students were recognized earlier this week as National Merit Commended Scholars, based on their results from the PSAT/MSQT test results a year ago. According to nationalmerit.org, Commended Scholars total up to 34,000 student nationwide, roughly five percent of the 1.5 million students who took the test.

In total, the District had 37 representees. The scholars from MHS included Seniors Matt Davis, Chris Dopuch, Madison Ginsberg, Rohit Gummi, Ravi Kasadnahuni, Zoe Lefebvre, Mason Li, Nevatha Mathialagan, Ryan Schaefer, Brian Swinkels, and Sam Vaughn.

Schaefer said he was surprised by his test scores.

“It was thrilling,” Schaefer said. “I thought I did well but not that well.”

Although Commended Scholars don’t proceed to the status as a Semi-Finalist for the National Merit Scholarship, they are still exposed and are more likely to be offered other scholarships sponsored by businesses and corporations, according to nationalmerit.org.

Schaefer said he thought it would make the college application process run more smoothly.

“Even though I don’t know for sure that I got a scholarship, it can’t hurt in the long run,” Schaefer said.

As for college choices, Schaefer said he is planning to apply to Ivy League Schools Harvard and Columbia, along with Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Champaign, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

According to US News and World Report, all of Schaefer’s desired schools are ranked among the top 100 in the nation.