See the Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys Students Making the National Merit Semifinalists

Students in Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys have been named 2013 National Merit Semifinalists, the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday in a news release.

Here are the local semifinalists:

* Gregory Taylor, Buckley School

* Taylor Puskar, Notre Dame High School

* Amine Chamichyan, Van Nuys High School

* Daniel Ra, Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies

They will compete for about 8,300 scholarships worth more than a total $32 million. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to make it to the finals; just more than half of the finalists will win a scholarship.

The students will be judged by their scores on standardized tests, their grades, an essay and extracurricular activities.

Semifinalists were determined by their scores on the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as 11th graders. Only those who scored in the top 1 percent of their state were named semifinalists.

About 1.5 million high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT last year.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program, according to a news release from the nonprofit organization. The scholarships are provided by the organization and about 440 businesses and educational institutions.