Three seniors from Lynbrook High School were recently selected as semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Competition. Sam Cohen, Juliana Condoleo and Kaylie Hausknecht are among 16,000 semifinalists out of 1.6 million students nationwide, less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, who were chosen based on their high scores on the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. As semifinalists in the program, the students will compete for one of 7,500 National Merit Scholarships. 

Along with their strong academic skills and various Advanced Placement courses, all three students play a large role in their school and community. Sam is the president of the Student Government Association, the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, Horizon, on the board of the school’s newly founded marine club, a member of the National Honor Society and varsity Tennis team. As a talented musician, Sam plays violin in the school’s chamber orchestra, is a pianist in the school’s jazz band, the president of Lynbrook High School’s Tri-M Honor Society and volunteers at North Shore LIJ, playing the violin for patients. 

Juliana is another passionate musician who plays the flute and was recently selected for the 2018 New York State School Music Association All-State Conference. She is a member of the school’s pit orchestra where she is currently preparing for the school’s musical. In addition, Juliana is treasurer of the Tri-M Honor Society, a member of the varsity badminton team, Mathletes, Science Olympiad and the National Honor Society. She is involved in the Science Research program and over the summer, conducted science research at SUNY Farmingdale. She also took a class during the summer at Columbia University on behavior neuroscience. 

Another leader in the school, Kaylie is the president of the high school’s National Honor Society and is involved in Mathletes, Science Olympiad and the Science Research Program. She is also a member of the Nassau County All Star Mathletes team and conducted research in a physics lab over the summer at Harvard University. To add to her productive summer, Kaylie was a finalist in the Genes in Space contest for her DNA experiment proposal which allowed her to travel to San Francisco to present her research at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference. On the weekends, she takes classes at Columbia University and volunteers with SIBSPlace, Survivorship in Brothers and Sisters, an organization that works with those whose loved ones are impacted by cancer and terminal illnesses. 

The students are excited to continue in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program. About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level which will be determined in February.