Five seniors at George Mason High School have been named National Merit finalists in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $34 million, that will be offered this spring.

The 2012 George Mason High School National Merit Scholarship finalists are Mathew J. Irvine, Michael J. Irvine, Ze’ev M. Lailari, Marshall Forrest Richards and Misha J. Terman.

About 1.5 million high school juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of finalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.