The preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is an exam with two parts, a reading and writing section, and a math section. Students across the country take this test for a chance to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, which would help them go to college. To be eligible for these scholarships, students who take the test must score in the top 1% nationally and be chosen as semifinalists. To become finalists, students (now seniors) must complete an application for the scholarship, have high academic performance throughout high school, have an SAT or ACT score (taken in junior or senior year) that is similar to their semifinalist PSAT scores, and be endorsed by their high school. In 2023, 3.7 million students across the United States of America took the PSAT/NMSQT, but only around 16,000 of them qualified as semifinalists.

With a score of 1490, Brianna Tuai became Rio Mesa’s very own National Merit semifinalist, one of the only ones in Oxnard. “When I received the news, I thought, ‘Oh, cool’. But I was still surprised and proud of myself,” she said. As a senior, Brianna had a lot of work on her plate. Between running a club, golf, IB classes, and college applications, she had very little time to focus on other things like the PSAT or the SAT. Yet, she persevered, maintaining excellent grades and her extracurriculars well, all the while preparing for the SAT. Brianna is a true Spartan.