SANDPOINT — A Forrest Bird Charter High School senior is among the top 1 percent of students in the nation as he was recently named a semi-finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program.

Isaac Solly said he was "quite pleased" when he heard he made the cut, though it did not come as a surprise when the semi-finalists were announced earlier this month.

"I've kind of known for a few months, since the end of last year," Solly said. "... I was really happy to get semi-finalist, and at the moment I am doing the application for the finalist as well."

Solly has attended North Idaho College since his sophomore year and plans to have his associate's degree in general studies by the time he graduates high school in the spring. He will then go on to a four-year college for an engineering degree, though he is not sure which college he will be attending. His top choices would be among the Ivy League schools on the East Coast, he said but there are several different options he is looking at.

"I am just going to see what I get accepted into and make some choices then," Solly said.

After college, he wants to go into bioengineering, possibly biomedical, which would includes combining engineering with medical science to create devices to help people look at things like genetics and DNA, Solly said, adding that it is "all very interesting."

With a 4.0 GPA at FBCS, Solly said he enjoys math in high school and college as it is his most proficient subject. He "really enjoys" subjects such as history and politics as well. In addition to his academic success, Solly said he is involved in several clubs and activities, though the biggest thing he is involved with is Cedar Hills Church, where he runs the sound board for the band part time. He has also been the editor of the school paper, "Bird Eye News," for the past two years.

Solly's parents moved to the United States from Britain shortly before he was born, so he has dual citizenship. They have lived in Rhode Island and California, he said, before moving to Sandpoint just over two years ago.

"It's probably the best place I've lived ... the lake is amazing," Solly said.

As for the next steps toward becoming a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program, Solly and FBCS officials must submit a detailed scholarship application, with information about Solly's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. Semi-finalists are required to have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying PSAT test.

Semi-finalists across the nation make up about 16,000 out of more than 1.6 million juniors who entered the competition by taking the qualifying PSAT last year. More than 90 percent of the semi-finalists are expected to attain finalist standing. Finalists are typically announced in February.

Finalists will compete for three types of scholarships offered in the spring. Each finalist has an opportunity to earn one of 2,500 scholarships in the amount of $2,500 that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance 4,000 college-sponsored scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.