278 O.C. students named National Merit semifinalists

Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register Orange County is home to 278 high school students who this year have been named National Merit semifinalists, an elite designation awarded to just 1 percent of seniors nationwide who took the Preliminary SAT. About one out of every seven semifinalists in California who achieved the designation this year is from Orange County, according to data released Wednesday by the Evanston, Ill.-based National Merit Scholarship Corp. The O.C. group represents those who scored a minimum of 219 out of 240 on their PSAT exam as juniors last spring…