National Merit Finalists
To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. The Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student's self-descriptive essay and information about the Semifinalists' participation and leadership in school and community activities. 

National Merit Semifinalists
To become semifinalists, the students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed by their school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. They must also submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes a self-descriptive essay and information about their participation and leadership in school and community activities. The approximately 16,000 semifinalists have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $30 million. 

National Merit Commended Students
Six Lake Park High School seniors have been named Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. The Commended Students are: Angelina Carpenter, Dex Cullen, Marly Mastny, Genji Matsuyama, Denisa Pecen, and Kyle Petrovich. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.  Although they will not continue in the 2025 competition for Merit Scholarship Awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million juniors who entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).