For most students the process of searching and applying to colleges can be a long and taxing road, but for some others it’s a breeze.

Students that are recognized by programs such as the National Hispanic Recognition program and National Merit program are personally emailed by universities, inviting them to apply. For these students they don’t have too look for colleges, the schools look for them. Being a national scholar puts you on universities’ radar screens, making them more likely to be accepted.

To be recognized as a National Merit Scholar or a National Hispanic Scholar it makes students a more competitive candidate for all of those scholarships and there are schools that specifically seek out national merit students, said Sarah Simmons, College and Career Counselor.

Students who achieve high scores on tests such as the PSAT and the SAT are eligible to be acknowledged by the College Board and recognized as high performing students who are then nominated for scholarship programs.

Colleges aren’t just interested in these tests alone, they are just as interested in the student’s academic histories, said Christine Kesling, College Readiness Counselor. They are looking beyond just the test scores, she said.

“The students that have qualified on these tests don’t just study for that test, they have committed themselves to their academics from the time that they started school because the PSAT isn’t a test just off of one subject,” she said.“They’ve had to work hard the entire time that they’ve been at school.”

Simmons said that many colleges recognize that test scores are not necessarily an indicator of student’s’ potential, instead they are only mere snapshots of students’ skills.

“But I can tell you that students here that have made these high scores it’s because they are dedicated students who spend time every single day on reading or writing,” Simmons said.

Ivy League schools like Purdue and Cornell have been sending letters to some students that have received these programs such as Isaac Castaneda, Truman Byrd, Abigail Peterson, and Brittney Arellano who scored high on their PSAT and SAT exams.

Senior Isaac Castaneda said that it’s hard to get on the radar screens of some of the colleges that he wants to attend. He’s happy that his hard work has paid off and that he is now getting noticed.

Senior Truman Byrd said he recommends freshman start using Khan Academy that are interested in preparing themselves for these tests. “I think the best tool to prepare for the test is Khan Academy’s PSAT/SAT prep program online,” Byrd said. “Its free, and you just link your College Board account to Khan Academy and it builds practice questions based on your previous scores.”