Cameron King, a senior at Gallatin High School, has been notified that he is one of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program competition.
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Last year, more than 1.5 million juniors across the nation entered the competition by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of current high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.
To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Approximately 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and it is from this group that all National Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen. These winners are chosen on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
Three types of National Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in the spring of 2009. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,100 corporate-sponsored scholarships will be provided for students who meet specific criteria. In addition, approximately 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance more than 4,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who plan to attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2009 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 259,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.