LIHU‘E — The names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named last week in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a press release states. These academically talented high-school seniors have an opportunity
LIHU‘E — The names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named last week in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a press release states.
These academically talented high-school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 million, that will be offered next spring.
Island School’s Lexa Mink-Flacco was among those named, and will continue on to the next level of competition.
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 approximately half of the finalists will win National Merit Scholarships, earning the Merit Scholar title.
Mink-Flacco, along with about 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools, entered the program by taking the 2009 preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. She and Island School senior Tessa Mason were among 50,000 of the highest-scoring participants named commended scholars, of some 1.5 million entrants.
To become a finalist, Mink-Flacco must demonstrate an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm her 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 the National Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2011 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
Like many students in the Class of 2011, Mink-Flacco is busy with college applications and the rigors of her senior year of high school. She is also active in the high school choral and theater departments, the Robotics Club and Civil Air Patrol. She is considering programs in mechanical or aerospace engineering at either Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.
