Nine Osceola County high school scholars are among the 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists in the in the 69th annual edition of the program.
They have an opportunity to continue in the competition for over 7,000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday.
Celebration High’s Aiden Dai, Noah Fermin, Noah Lingo, Joshua Haines and Ethan Warner are joined on the list by Osceola High’s Noah Illick, Osceola County School for the Arts’ Mark Tomaz and NeoCity Academy’s Matthew Cardenas and Katelyn Hornak.
The members of that pool of semifinalist make up less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
To become finalist, these semifinalists, along with a representative of their high school, must submit a detailed scholarship application that details their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. To move on, the semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record and, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and have SAT or ACT scores that confirm earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Merit Scholar designees, according to the Corporation, are selected 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.
Per the corporation, three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2024. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 160 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and join a distinguished list of 375,000 of those who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
