Hofflich scored among the top three percent of the approximately 1.5 million students around the country who took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) in October.
For his academic accomplishment, Hofflich will be permitted to select two colleges to which the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will provide a reference.
Suzanne D’Arco, Hofflich’s English Language Arts teacher, said she wasn’t surprised that he was named a candidate for the scholarship.
“Josh is extremely talented, and I recognized this as soon as I began working with him in the 10th grade,” she said. “Josh is not only a scholar, but also a humble young man. He is truly a pleasure to have in class.”
Outside of the classroom, Hofflich is the co-editor-in-chief for the high school yearbook, contributes to the student newspaper and is a member of the Science Olympiad Team. He volunteers for lighting during school productions and performs community service at the Community Service Associate’s soup kitchen in Mount Vernon.
Hofflich will begin an internship this summer at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he will work in a research laboratory conducting genome sequencing targeted at finding a cure for breast cancer.
“[Josh] has worked so hard his entire academic career to make it to this point,” his parents said. “The late nights spent studying, and the hours spent after school meeting with teachers to really understand a subject that was discussed in class is really starting to pay off.”
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