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Press release from National Merit Scholarship Corporation:<\/p>\n
Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit\u00ae Scholarship Program<\/strong><\/p>\n (Evanston, Illinois) Today officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was Steps in the 2018 Competition<\/strong> To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed National Merit Scholarships<\/strong> National Merit Scholarship winners of 2018 will be announced in four nationwide news <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the Fall of 2016 approximately 1.6 million 11th graders from across the United States took the\u00a0Preliminary SAT\/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test with the hope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":5618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nannounced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit
\nScholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to
\ncontinue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32
\nmillion that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship\u00ae award,
\nSemifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
\nAbout 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half
\nof the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar\u00ae title.<\/p>\n
\nestablished in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
\nScholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 420 business
\norganizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC\u2019s goals of honoring the nation\u2019s
\nscholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.<\/p>\n
\nAbout 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit
\nScholarship Program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT\/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying
\nTest (PSAT\/NMSQT\u00ae), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool
\nof Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring
\nentrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state\u2019s
\npercentage of the national total of graduating seniors.<\/p>\n
\nscholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist\u2019s academic record,
\nparticipation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment,
\nand honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout
\nhigh school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn
\nSAT\u00ae scores that confirm the student\u2019s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
\nFrom the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance
\nto the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit
\nScholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are
\nselected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college
\nstudies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.<\/p>\n
\nThree types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2018.
\nEvery Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit\u00ae $2500 Scholarships that will be
\nawarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship
\nawards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for
\nFinalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor\u2019s employees or residents
\nof communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 190 colleges and
\nuniversities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
\nfor Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.<\/p>\n
\nreleases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more
\nthan 330,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.<\/p>\n