Ten Staples High School students and one from Greens Farms Academy today were among approximately 16,000 semifinalists named in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The 10 Saples semifinalists include: (back row, l-r) Grace McGinley, Nicole Kiker, Alexander Ialeggio, and Brendon Massoud; (front row) Pheobe Spear, Lindsey Marks, Ulyana Piterbarg, JiSu Ahn, Isabelle Amlicke, and Tia Pogue. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
The seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring.
The Staples students are JiSu Ahn, Isabelle Amlicke, Alexander D. Ialeggio, Nicole T. Kiker, Lindsey N. Marks, Brendan J. Massoud, Grace McGinley, Ulyana Piterbarg, Tia Pogue, and Phoebe Spear. The Greens Farms Academy student is Christopher J. Glynn.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.
About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title, according to an announcement by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. (NMSC).
About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state, the NMSC said.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received, the announcement said.
A semifinalist must 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 test.
From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation, the NMSC said.
