The National Merit Scholarship Program has announced its Semifinalists for the 68th annual awards. OLSH senior Lorin Planinsic has received the distinguished honor of being a Semifinalist. High school students were automatically entered into the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. About 16,000 students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Lorin is a recipient of the prestigious OLSH St. John Neumann Endowed Scholarship. This four-year renewable merit scholarship is reserved for students who have a deep intellectual curiosity, are committed to excellence in their academic work, and undertake the most rigorous academic programs at the school. Lorin has proven to be a worthy recipient of that scholarship.

This past summer, the College Board recognized Lorin as an AP Scholar with Distinction for having achieved an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams throughout his high school career to date.

Lorin is also a student-athlete at OLSH, playing key roles on the soccer, basketball, and cross country teams. He is a student-leader within the OLSH community, participating in the Student Ambassador program and National Honor Society, and serving as the OLSH Student Government’s Director of Communications.

Lorin will continue on to be in consideration for a spot as a National Merit Finalist. Each Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 950 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will also be provided, in addition to about 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards from 160 colleges and universities. National Merit Scholarship recipients will be announced in the spring of 2023.

“We want to congratulate Lorin for being recognized as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist,” OLSH principal Tim Plocinik commented. “Lorin is a remarkable and academically gifted student who is a leader in the OLSH community. He is also a humble, down to earth young man who represents OLSH and the Felician sisters remarkably well. We are so proud of this outstanding accomplishment!”