Fryeburg Academy student May Ki-ok “May” Shin has been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, and fellow student Kyungyoon “Yuna” Lee has been named a commended student.High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. According to the College Board, more than 2 million students took the PSAT in 2021; both young women placed among the top 50,000 takers of this test, according to a news release from the academy.

Shin is part of a nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists that represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. She has the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and compete to receive a National Merit Scholarship.

Lee will not continue in the 2023 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, but she is one of 34,000 commended students throughout the nation being thus recognized for exceptional academic promise.

Shin is the daughter of Sunkyung Hwang and Kiseub Shin, and Lee is the daughter of Hyosook Chung and Byungirl Lee. Both young women are from South Korea and attend the academy as part of its boarding program.

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