Last week, seven Chesterton High School seniors received the National Merit Commended Student honor, placing them in the top 2-3% of students nationwide. 

The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT), the PSAT students take in their junior year, has been given to high schoolers for decades. After sending the scores through an algorithm, each student is given an index score, which qualifies them for academic acknowledgment. The cutoff for the Class of 2025 was a score of 208.

This year’s commended students are Emmalise Adcock, Nicholas Carpentier, Quinn Fleming, Savannah Grant, Samuel Macker, Alaina McGrogan, and Carmen Thomas. 

They are among just 34,000 students in the US who are being recognized for their performance on the 2023 NMSQT exam. They won’t continue in the race for a scholarship, but they still achieved something exceptional.

“These students have demonstrated remarkable academic achievement, and we are incredibly proud of their hard work,” said principal Brent Martinson, as quoted in the Dune News, the Duneland School Corporation’s weekly newsletter..

All of these students were called down to the main office last week, where they first found out they had earned the award they’d been working for. Unlike semifinalists, these students don’t find out ahead of time.

“I had a good idea I was going to make at least commendable shortly after I got my scores back last year, but I didn’t actually find out till they announced it on the PA system,” said senior Nicholas Carpentier, who is involved in the Red Cross Club, Science Olympiad, HOSA, and other clubs around CHS. 

Doing well on the NMSQT requires preparation from those taking it, as well as hard work. This group of students has no problem with that, though: they did well preparing for this test. One student even prepared for both the NMSQT and the SAT concurrently.

“I took practice exams for the SAT,” said senior Alaina McGrogan, who runs track and cross country, and is involved in Academic Super Bowl, Science Olympiad, and the Debate team. “I hoped it would translate over.”

Practice exams weren’t the only thing that prepared them, though. These National Merit Commended students also gained helpful knowledge from their required classes during the school day.

“Algebra 2 was probably the biggest contributor,” Carpentier recalled.

Taking advantage of honors and Advanced Placement classes was a good resource, as well. 

 “Taking AP classes helped for sure,” McGrogan stated.

Even though this commendation is a huge accomplishment, it left some students feeling a little frustrated. 

“They increased the [index] score from 216 to 217… and I had a 216. I was down by one point. [It was] so frustrating, actually,” said Carpentier.  

Both Carpentier and McGrogan missed the semifinalist cutoff by only a point. 

This year is the first time in four years that the index score has increased. It’s common for national merit commended students to miss the semifinalist cutoff by only a few points. Regardless, receiving commendation is still an impressive feat that is more than worthy of being recognized.

When asked to advise younger CHS students who want to achieve National Merit recognition, these seniors supplied some helpful guidance. 

“Take a bunch of practice tests. And don’t just take them and forget about them. Look over your answers and see what you got wrong, and make sure you understand why you got it wrong and how to get to the right answer,” advised McGrogan. “Just take maybe two or three of those, and you should be set.”

Practice tests are probably the closest you’ll get to the actual NMSQT testing format and content. There are some practice booklets you can borrow in the CHS tutor lab, and even more at the library.

“There are only a few types of questions on the PSAT. So if you can figure out what you’re struggling with, it’s pretty easy to find out what you need to fix,” said Carpentier.

If you follow this advice, doing well on the NMSQT is a relatively achievable goal for students to take on. All it takes is moderate preparation and attention to detail.

These students will be recognized for their achievements at the homecoming game this weekend, between the first and second quarters of the game. Even though they’re out of the running for the scholarship, the National Merit Commendation is a huge accomplishment for these seniors. It’s the result of weeks or months of hard work and dedication.

This accomplishment reflects honor on the individual students, their high school, and the broader Chesterton community. They have exceedingly promising and innovative futures ahead of them, yet they already have all the tools they need to make that a reality.