Two Southeast Bulloch High School seniors have earned national recognition for their academic achievement through the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Justine Wu was named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, while Andrew Hurlock was recognized as a Commended Student.
The students entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program as juniors by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. More than 1.2 million students from over 20,000 high schools participated nationwide.
Justine Wu – National Merit Scholarship SemifinalistWu is one of more than 16,000 Semifinalists. She will now advance to the final level of the competition in her quest to earn a National Merit Scholar title. At stake is more than $24 million in college scholarship funds that will be awarded in the spring through 6,700 National Merit Scholarships. These winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
To be considered,
officials at Southeast Bulloch High School will submit a detailed scholarship application on her behalf, providing information about her academic record, school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. She will write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm her earlier performance on the original qualifying test.It’s estimated that about 95 percent of Semifinalists will achieve Finalist status and half of those will actually win scholarships and earn the Merit Scholar title. She has accomplished what less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors achieve, and she is among the highest-scoring entrants in our state.
Andrew Hurlock – National Merit Scholarship Commended StudentAndrew Hurlock is one of 34,000 Commended Students honored by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Although he will not continue in the 2027 competition, he placed among the top 50,000 students out of the more than 1.2 million who entered. According to the Corporation, Commended Students, like Semifinalists and Finalists, represent a valuable national resource of academic talent. Educators from Bulloch County Schools and Southeast Bulloch High School salute these students and encourage them and all students to continue pursuing academic success.
National Merit Scholarship CorporationThe National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.Scholarships are underwritten by the Corporation with its own funds and by about 260 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors.
