Seniors Recognized as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
Congratulations to seniors Bryce Heitner and Alexander Swerdlow who were among the less than one percent of students named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. They join 16,000 students who are competing for 7,500 scholarships worth $31 million. The National Merit Scholarship Program, which is in its 64th year, recognizes academically talented students.
“I was initially very surprised because the second I had left the test, I immediately knew I had gotten two math problems wrong,” admitted Swerdlow when asked about his reaction about receiving the honor. “I thought that was sure to tank my score because I expected to get other questions wrong but the rest of the test went well.”
"Milken is extremely proud of Alexander and Bryce and their great accomplishment of becoming National Merit Semifinalists,” said Director of College Counseling & Academic Planning, Ross Mankuta. “To think that 1.6 million students took the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying test and that Alexander and Bryce are among the 16,000 honored students is quite a feat. What makes their success even more impressive is the awesome work that they both do here at Milken and in the greater Los Angeles community, keeping Milken's values alive in all of their endeavors."
Heitner and Swerdlow are both very active in Milken clubs and extracurricular activities and carry rigorous course loads. Heitner has been a member of Milken’s Robotics Team—Team 1836: The MilkenKnights— since he was a freshman. He is chair of the YOZMA (Milken’s social action initiative) Global Response Group, and is a member of the CyberPatriots (An Air Force Association-sponsored national cybersecurity competition) where he is one of only a few team members who work on the Linux operating system. Heitner also volunteers with the summer literacy program Wise Readers to Leaders (WRTL) as an assistant teacher, teen executive board member, and weekly reading instructor. After teaching an introduction to Computer-aided Design (CAD) and 3D printing course from lesson plans he developed to the middle schoolers at WRTL, he expanded the program and now tutors students at the Mar Vista Family Center once a week.
Swerdlow is co-captain and lead programmer of Team 1836: The MilkenKnights and has been a member since his freshman year and is the co-president of the CyberPatriots Club.
He also works at the UCLA Cyber-Physical Lab developing optimal control algorithms for autonomous systems.
Both students noted the influence Milken has had on their academic accomplishments. “Milken's classes and teachers have been instrumental to my development as a student and have contributed greatly to my success in standardized testing,” said Heitner. “Milken’s curriculum allowed me to become a more well-rounded student, and, without that balance, I don’t think I would have been as successful on the PSAT,” remarked Swerdlow.
Semifinalists are designated on a state representational basis in order to ensure students from all over the country are included. They are the highest scoring entrants in each state. To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements. Around 15,000 of the Semifinalists will be notified in February they have advanced to Finalists.
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