Red Knights Receive National Merit Scholarship Recognition

Three members of Benilde-St. Margaret’s Class of 2023 were recently named Semifinalists of the prestigious National Merit Scholarship program: Genevieve Larson, Vivienne Larson, and Matthew Robinson.

Seven additional BSM seniors were named as Commended Students in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program: Valentine Coppo, Megan Cornell, Kent Gerads, Lillian Hertel, Aidan Marks, Philip McCaffrey, and Ryan Souka.

“These students have worked so hard and we are so thankful that they are receiving national acknowledgement for their accomplishments. Go Red Knights!” said Stephanie Nitchals, BSM senior high principal.

Each Commended Student placed among the top 50,000 students out of more than 1.5 million students taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Genevieve Larson, Vivienne Larson, and Matthew Robinson are among only 16,000 members of the class of 2023 in the United States named as semifinalists, representing less than one percent of all U.S. high school seniors and are the highest scoring entrants in each state for their exceptional academic promise.

To be eligible for consideration of receiving a National Merit Scholarship, high school juniors take the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT^®). Since 2017, Benilde-St. Margaret’s has had 30 National Merit Scholars.

BSM’s three semifinalists are outstanding students and also active in a variety of activities and athletics at Benilde-St. Margaret’s:

Genevieve Larson loves to run varsity cross country and track and field. She is a captain of the varsity math team and serves as a tutor in the BSM math resource center and volunteers with the Red Knight Volunteer Corp (RKVC). Her academic interests include photography in BSM’s art department, chemistry, and calculus. Genevieve is in the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, World Language Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta, the math honor society.  

Vivienne Larson is a member of the varsity cross country and varsity track and field teams, and is a captain of the math team. She volunteers with the Red Knight Volunteer Corp (RKVC) and is a tutor in BSM’s math resource center. Her academic interests include AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, and Drawing/Painting. Vivienne is a member of the National Honor Society, World Language Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta, the math honor society.

Matthew Robinson is a member of the BSM soccer team, plays on the boys tennis team, and the intramural basketball team. Matthew is also in the National Honor Society, a member of the Red Knights Volunteer Corps, National Math Honor Society, National Language Honor Society, and Link Crew.

A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT^® or ACT^® scores confirming the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

The list of 2023 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April 2023.