Two students from Southeast Bulloch High School are being honored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their academic success.
According to a release from the Bulloch County school district, Justine Wu was selected as a semifinalist, and Andrew Hurlock was named a “Commended Student.” The students, now seniors, entered the 72nd Annual National Merit Scholarship Program during their junior year by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test. They were among more than 1.2 million students from more than 20,000 high schools who took part in this year's program.
Justine Wu - National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist
Wu is one of more than 16,000 semifinalists. She advances 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. The 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. Less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors become semifinalists, and she is among the highest-scoring entrants in Georgia.
Andrew Hurlock - National Merit Scholarship Commended Student
Andrew 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.
“Educators from Bulloch County Schools and Southeast Bulloch High School salute these students and encourage them and all students to continue pursuing academic success,” the release stated.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation
The 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.