Record amount of students in West Texas receive national honors, including the Permian Basin’s only National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - ECISD has announced a record number of students receiving national recognition through the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Over 16,000 nationwide and over 1,500 in Texas, but only Anika Gundlapalli represents the Permian Basin as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

Anika earned this honor for her performance on the PSAT in 2022.

Over 1.3 million juniors across about 21,000 high schools nationwide took the test and entered their name into the National Merit Scholarship Program.

This means that she is in the top 1% of her class.

It’s not just the student’s performance on the PSAT that is factored in.

The classes they are taking and how they are performing in them matters as well as extracurriculars.

Anika’s impact is felt all around the Odessa High School campus.

She isn’t the only one who received national honors.

Three Ector County students and four Midland Students received the honor of National Commended Scholar, placing them in the top 2.5% of their class nationwide.

Across all of ECISD, a record 50 students received national honors, with at least two coming from each of the district’s six high schools.

Anika has to wait until February to find out if she is a finalist for one of 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth a total of almost $28 million.

Copyright 2023 KOSA. All rights reserved.