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The semifinalists from New Rochelle High School are Gabrielle N. Altman, Oliver K. Hughes, Rebecca A. Meisler, Eli M. Sills, Sammy D. Stone and Taylor R. Ullrich, according to the New Rochelle Patch.
Semifinalists from Ursuline are Niamh T. Fitzpatrick, Grace B. Gallagher, Caroline LaGumina, Briana M. Ross and Julianna N. Sullivan, The Ursuline School reported.
They are in contention for about 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be awarded in the spring.
About 15,000 students, or 90 percent of the semifinalists, are expected to advance to the finals, with about half the finalists earning scholarships, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, are the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, providing information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. 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 performance on the qualifying test.
Semifinalists will be notified in February if they have been chosen as finalists. The National Merit Scholarship winners are selected from the finalists.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by the nonprofit with its own funds and by about 440 business organizations and institutions of higher education that share the goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
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