AP & National Merit Scholars
Mount Michael Benedictine has a long tradition of academic excellence. Evidence of this can be seen in the scholarly recognition Mount Michael students have received. Considering the size of Mount Michael’s enrollment, the achievement is all the more impressive.
Current Achievements
The class of 2026 has two students with a perfect score of 36 on their ACT: Jaxson Pigg and Xavier Zimmerman.
The class of 2026 has three National Merit Semi-Finalists: Jaxson Pigg, Cole Poutre, and Xavier Zimmerman. Finalists will be announced in the Spring. Nathan Mullin is a National Merit Commended Student.
AP Scholars for the 2024-2025 academic year were:
- AP Scholars with Distinction: Aidan Balas, Ethan Bell, Jack Dewhurst, Peter Haas, Peter Killeen, Nathan Mullin, Matthew Otten, Jaxson Pigg, Cole Poutre, Brady Quinlivan, Connor Smith, Will Snyder, Cole Storch, Xavier Zimmerman
- AP Scholars with Honors: Connor Chen, Drew Hoeft, Mason Nick, Clemens Pavlish, Alex Pekny, Cody Torczon, Noah Trueman
- AP Scholars: Nathan Bluvas, Owen Brester, Derek Brewer, Callan Guthmiller, Augie Knobbe, Preston Peatrowsky, Thomas Penne, Jack Stanek, Noah Stricklett, Anson Vogtman, Harry Vondrak
2025-2026 AP Scholars will be announced in the late summer or fall.
A Tradition of Excellence
Since 2006, Mount Michael has had 10 students with an ACT Score of 36.
Since 1992, Mount Michael has had a total of 583 AP Scholars:
- 168 AP Scholars with Distinction
- 150 AP Scholars with Honors
- 268 AP Scholars
- 7 National AP Scholars (award discontinued in 2020)
Since 1979*, Mount Michael has had 133 National Merit Scholars:
- 66 Finalists
- 8 Semi-Finalists (does not include students who went on to become finalists)
- 59 Commended Students
*No records available before 1979
Definitions
National Merit Recognition is given to the nations top 1% of U.S. high school seniors based on PSAT scores from October of their Junior year. The criteria for National Merit rankings are as follows:
- Commended Students: 34,000 high-scorers recognized for their PSAT performance
- Semifinalists: the 16,000 highest scorers on the PSAT
- Finalists: semifinalists who meet academic and other requirements to be eligible for National Merit Scholarships
AP Scholar Program: 5 is the highest possible score on an AP Exam. A Score of 3 generally qualifies for college credit. Students who take the AP Exams are eligible for the following distinctions:
- AP Scholars: Students who score 3 or higher on 3 or more exams
- AP Scholar with Honor: Average of at least 3.25 on all exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams
- AP Scholar with Distinction: Average of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on 5 or more exams
- National AP Scholar: Average of 4 on all AP exams taken and scores of 4 or better on 8 or more exams (discontinued in 2020)