Le Tran named National Merit Semifinalist
BILOXI, Miss.- St. Patrick Catholic High School is proud to announce that Anna Aithien Le Tran ’21 has been named a 2021 National Merit Semifinalist. National Merit Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. She was also selected as a Scholar for the College Board National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.
Last October, the St. Patrick Class of 2021 took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, or the PSAT/NMSQT. Out of about 1.6 million high school seniors from around the United States, 16,000 became National Merit Semifinalists based on their academic performance on the PSAT/NMSQT.
“On behalf of the St. Patrick Catholic High School administration, faculty, and staff, I am incredibly proud of Anna on her selection as a National Merit Semifinalist. Her devotion to academic achievement and her contributions to St. Patrick are evident throughout our school community, and we are grateful for her representation of our school on a national level,” said Principal Dr. Matt Buckley.
Le Tran is the daughter of Daniel and Tracy Le Tran of Gulfport. She is a member of Vietnamese Martyrs Parish and St. James Parish. After high school, Le Tran plans to attend Louisiana State University and major in Biomedical Engineering with future plans to attend medical school.
“I’m very excited to be named a semifinalist,” Le Tran said. “I’ve dreamed of being able to get such an achievement as I’ve heard of people being named in the years before me, but it still feels unreal.”
Le Tran now has the opportunity to continue in the competition to be awarded one of 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be awarded next spring.
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St. Patrick Catholic High School is a faith-based, college preparatory high school in Biloxi, Mississippi, and named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2019. Established in 2007, St. Patrick is the premier secondary educational institution in South Mississippi and strives each day to Educate Scholars, Train Disciples, and Support Champions. St. Patrick is proud to report a 100% college matriculation rate, ACT and SAT scores that far exceed the state and national averages, and a rich history of Catholic education founded in the traditional roots of our legacy schools of St. John High School, Mercy Cross High School, Notre Dame High School, and Sacred Heart Academy.