Corwin Jones, a Half Moon Bay High School graduate, has been named a National Merit Scholarship finalist. Every year, millions of high school juniors take the PSAT. Those who score within the 96th percentile on the preliminary college entrance test become eligible for National Merit Scholar awards. Around 16,000 of these students earn scores that qualify them as semifinalists, meaning that they are among the highest scorers within their state. This group is narrowed down to 15,000 â less than 1 percent â who become finalists. This year, Jones was one of them. Jones first became aware of the National Merit Scholarship program as a sophomore in high school.