Fairfield seniors named National Merit semifinalists

Several seniors from Fairfield high schools have been named semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship program.

The students cited include: Kevin J. Culligan from Fairfield College Preparatory School; Arjun Jain, Olivia D. Schneble, Alexander Yokokawa and Yifei Zhang from Fairfield Ludlowe High School, and Keelan R. Cosgrove, Bryan T. Fichera and Caroline J. Keough from Fairfield Warde High School.

The pupils are among about 16,000 students nationwide to become semifinalists after passing the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test, taken by 1.5 million then-juniors across the country.

About 15,000 of these students are expected to advance to the finalist level and in February be notified of the designation. Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists based on skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, according to a news release.

Three types of scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2013 -- $2,500 scholarships awarded on a state representational basis, corporate-sponsored scholarships and college-sponsored awards. Winners will be announced in the spring and summer.