Mounds View Public Schools consistently has more National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists than almost any other district in the state. High school juniors enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, is made up of the highest scoring entrants in each state. To become Finalists, Semifinalists must have a record of very high academic performance, be endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance.
