Congratulations to Our 4 National Merit Semifinalists!

Last October approximately 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT (the PSAT) which serves as the initial screening for the National Merit Scholarship program.  From that pool, approximately 16,000 students achieved a score high enough to place them in the semifinalist category.  This group represents less than 1 percent of the high school seniors in the United States.

 

From this point, Cole, Andy, Natalie, and Charlie will complete a scholarship application which will be reviewed to see if they will progress to the finalist stage of the National Merit competition.  The application consists of their academic record, endorsements from St. Andrew’s, a personal essay, and information about their participation and leadership in school and community activities.  Once students move to the finalist level, Merit Scholarship winners are chosen based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in college studies.

 

In the spring, 2,500 National Merit scholarships and roughly 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships will be awarded. Approximately 190 colleges and universities honor National Merit finalists by awarding them some amount of scholarship if students are choosing to attend their school.

This is the first hurdle in a long process, but making it this far is an accomplishment unto itself!