LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – Holden Anderson, a senior at Clarkdale High School, has been recognized as a National Merit Semifinalist, placing him among an elite group of scholars across the nation.
Each October, about 1.6 million juniors take the PSAT, and those who score in the top 1% earn this distinguished title.
“It was a difficult test, the PSAT was. It was a preliminary to the SATs main test,” said Anderson. “I made a perfect score on the English and a 700 on the Math, and so, a combined score of 1460, my index score was a 200 something, so that made it kind of predictable but also still very exciting when I found out I was a semi-finalist.”
“I’m about to take the ACT again, and hopefully that will get me more scholarships, more opportunities for college, and then after I graduate, hopefully go to Mississippi State and have a full ride,” said Anderson. “I’m hoping to major at Mississippi State in electrical engineering, and that’s hopefully what I’m going to do as a job.”
Most Semifinalists, like Holden, go on to become National Merit Finalists, a status that not only highlights academic excellence but also opens the door to substantial college scholarships.
Holden’s current score on the Act is a 33.
Video and Interview Courtesy of Lauderdale County School District
