Mississippi National Merit Semifinalists 2021-22

Nearly 17% of students enrolled at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Schools earned the designation of Semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.

For 141 Mississippi high school seniors, the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Competition brought good news: these super-smart students have earned the celebrated “Semifinalist” designation. In order to do so, they had to score among the top 1% of Mississippi students who took the PSAT/NMSQT in October of 2020. These brilliant students demonstrated that not even a global pandemic could hold back their aspirations. 

As a percentage of the senior class, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School took top honors, with roughly 17% of students qualifying as Semifinalists, followed by Mississippi School for Math and Science (MSMS) with roughly 13% of high school seniors qualifying. For the comparison, the national average is just 1%, meaning that St. Andrew’s is graduating brilliant students at 17 times the national average.

However, academically-inclined Mississippians don’t have to pay for private school tuition or drive off to boarding school—they could also live in the Jackson suburb of Madison, Mississippi. Madison Central High School remains a perennial talent magnet for Mississippi’s top students with nearly 6% of its senior class earning the Semifinalist designation. 

To win the coveted “Semifinalist” designation in Mississippi, students must have scored at a 211 or higher (out of 228). This is roughly equivalent to earning a composite score of 1400 (out of 1600) on the SAT. This cutoff score was unchanged from the previous year.

Semifinalists are eligible for full rides (free tuition and housing) to Ole Miss and Mississippi State (valued at more than $60,000) plus more than 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships and 4,000 college-sponsored scholarships.

This article was published in 2021; click here for the more recent results from 2022.

About the National Merit Scholarship Competition

Steps in the Year-Long Road to Scholarship Awardee

Nationally, over 1.5 million students participate in the National Merit Scholarship competition beginning the fall of their junior year. Juniors from more than 20,000 US high schools compete by sitting for what is essentially an abbreviated, practice SAT (PSAT).

Of these, approximately 16,000 students earned the designation “Semifinalist.” (An additional 34,000 students earned a “Commended” by scoring above a 209 out of 228). National Merit Semifinalists can qualify for a wide range of both corporate- and college-sponsored scholarships.

Around 90% of Semifinalists will go on to become National Merit Finalists; 2,500 students will eventually gain the title of National Merit Scholar, which comes with a $2,500 scholarship. Read more about the requirements to become a Merit Finalist or Merit Scholar. 

Top Mississippi Schools by National Merit Semifinalists

The following schools had three or more Semifinalists in the class of 2022 competition:

1. Madison Central High School – 21 / 6% of the senior class
2. Mississippi School for Mathematics & Science – 13 / 13%
3. St. Andrew’s Episcopal School – 10 / 17%
4. Lewisburg High School – 9
5. Jackson Preparatory School – 8
6. Biloxi High School – 5
7. Northwest Rankin High School – 5
8. Oak Grove High School – 5
9. Olive Branch High School – 5
10. Clinton High School – 4
11. Germantown High School – 4
12. Center Hill High School – 3
13. Gulfport High School – 3
14. Hernando High School – 3
15. Jackson Academy – 3
16. Ocean Springs High School – 3
17. Oxford High School – 3

With relatively few hard numbers by which to compare schools, parents and students may be tempted to use the number of National Merit Semifinalists to make a judgment about a school’s quality. However, while these data points can be useful in describing the profile of a single class, it’s difficult to verifiably say that there is a direct causal relationship between these achievements and the overall quality of a school’s education.

Many academically talented students are likely to score in the top 1% on the PSAT regardless of what school they attend. In Mississippi’s Class of 2022, two of the semifinalists were even homeschooled. Instead, what these numbers best indicate is which schools seem to have attracted a quorum of academically elite students.

To best assess a school’s academic quality, parents and students should look at a number of factors, including their National Merit Semifinalists and their test scores. 

Visit Piqosity’s in-depth analysis of Mississippi high schools’ ACT scores.

Top 10 College Majors for Mississippi’s National Merit Semifinalists

A plurality of Mississippi’s top students are hoping to pursue careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), with 23% of Semifinalists planning to major in some form of engineering in particular.

Of the sciences, Biology and related fields are the most popular, with 9% of students indicating an intended major in Biosciences. Health Professions are also popular, with 11% of students following courses of study such as Premedical Studies.

The humanities, in contrast, are clearly not favored: 4% of Semifinalists plan to pursue a major in the Social Sciences—politics and psychology. Only 2% of students plan to major in the humanities—literature, history, or philosophy/religious studies, and only 1% of students plan to major in the arts—drama and film.

Only two students declared a plan to major in Education. Interestingly, not a single student indicated “Pre-Law” as their intended major.

However, 33% of semifinalists were either undecided or did not declare an intention. It’s possible that some of these students will turn out to be brilliant performing artists, businesspeople, or lawyers!

A student’s intended major is designated by the three-digit code in front of their name.

How to Improve your SAT and PSAT Scores

Strong performance in your core academic classes is the single biggest indicator of success on college admissions tests like the SAT and ACT. In other words, the best way to improve your SAT and PSAT scores is to focus on your grades in school. 

The next best way to improve your SAT and PSAT scores is to take multiple practice tests. Doing so allows you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, make improvements, and grow more comfortable with the exam format and structure.

Piqosity, a leader in test prep for the ISEE, ACT, and SAT, offers up to 10 full-length practice tests for the SAT. In addition to these practice tests, our platform includes: 

• A Mini Diagnostic Test to help you establish your current level
• 60+ content lessons, including video tutorials 
• Adaptive, personalized practice sets that adjust to your strengths and weaknesses
• Real-time score prediction based your progress  
• Answer explanations for all test questions 
• An adaptable timer to simulate real testing experience or help you keep track of your speed
• Online whiteboard and printable PDFs options

Sign-up is free and individual plans are competitively priced. If you’re an educator or tutor, you can also take advantage of Piqosity’s free LMS and group pricing (including free plans for  eligible public schools.)   

Names of 2021-2022 Mississippi Semifinalists by High School

Congratulations to this year’s high scorers!

How to Read This Sortable Table

• The default sort is alphabetically by city and high school; to change the sorting order, click on the header by which you want to sort.
• “College Major” indicates a student’s declared preference on the PSAT. A mark of “Undecided” means the student declared their lack of preference; an “Undeclared” means the student did not respond to the question.

Why is Piqosity writing an article about Mississippi?

Shelby Joe, Piqosity’s founder, was born and raised in Mississippi and was himself a National Merit Semifinalist.

This article was last updated on September 22, 2021.