NC NATIONAL MERIT SEMINALLISTS

胡老师

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 – The names of the 16,000 semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program have been announced.

The semifinalists from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools are:

Atkins Academic & Technology High School – Benjamin G. Armentrout and Brianna E Thompson

Mount Tabor High – William T. Armentrout

East Forsyth High - Alexander J. Beddick

Reagan High – Cara L. Wanner

Reynolds High – Emory B.Wilson

West Forsyth High – Alyssa W. Zhao

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. More than 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.

National Merit is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Some scholarships are underwritten by National Merit and others by 410 business organizations and higher-education institutions.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The pool of semifinalists includes less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a scholarship application that includes information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership, employment, and honors and awards.

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.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2019. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by 220 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists attending their institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2019 will be announced in four news releases from April through July.

For more information about the competition, please visit National Merit.