Every September, National Merit Scholarship Corporation releases  the year’s National Merit Commended Scholars and Semifinalists all over the country. This year, Wantagh High School senior  Natasha Meagher, has been named a National Merit semifinalist. 

Meagher was recognized because of her high PSAT score, which serves as the determining factor for becoming a National Merit Semifinalist. Semifinalists must be in the top 1% of Junior year PSAT test takers in their respective state, which Meagher achieved, making her eligible to receive a $2,500 scholarship if selected as a finalist. 

When asked what her first reaction was to finding out she was a national merit semifinalist, Meagher responded, “I  [found out when I] was just sitting in Mrs. Psihos’s class, just doing a little bit of math, and all of a sudden Dr. Guzzone just walked in to see how everyone’s first week was going, and then he said, “oh congratulations,” and then I said “congratulations for what,” and then he said “you didn’t hear,” and I said “no…” So yeah, overall pretty shocked I was, I didn’t really see it coming.” Her advice for future test takers is, “Stay calm and don’t stress yourself out because you know it’s just a practice test.”

As for test preparation, Meagher shared, “The summer before I took that test I took an SAT prep course. I also took the October SAT and then about two weeks after I took the PSAT.” She revealed that going into the test, she “was actually really really tired because it was 7 AM and I knew I had to go to the homecoming parade immediately after so I was not really thrilled.”

Although prepared, Meagher had no expectations,  “Entering the test I did not expect it [semi-finalist score] and I didn’t have any expectation exiting the test because New York is a hard state to qualify for it in.”

Wantagh is so proud of Natasha for all of her hard work and for earning such a prestigious honor. We are excited to see what she will do next!