The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a non-profit, independent organization that allows for recognition of exceptional students everywhere in the U.S., and at the same time give these students scholarships for college. According to the NMSC website, each year, about 50,000 high school students in the U.S. qualify for being a part of the program, then about two-thirds of these students are deemed Commended Students. 16,000 become semi-finalists, and then 15,000 become finalists. Two students from our own school are among these 15,000: seniors Gabe Morosky and Jessica Li. Nearly half of these finalists get the scholarship.
Neither of them were expecting to become finalists. To become part of the organization, Morosky explained, “It’s mostly from doing well on the PSAT, since that determines if you’re a semifinalist. Then there’s an application to fill out, and the SAT helps determine if you’re a finalist.”
Both of them, however, were happy with the news. Colleges can be expensive. Sometimes the best way to get a chance in lowering these costs is simply by working to the best of the student’s abilities and seeing how it turns out.
When asked about what other attempts were made to help their process in getting into college, Morosky said, “I just applied to different things, and hoped to get something out of it.”
He hasn’t gotten any scholarships, yet, but this is one of the most important actions to make in order to get ready for college. Experience can also be gained from taking part in a variety of clubs and signing up to different places, so even if no scholarships are awarded, something positive can be taken out of it.
Li was very fortunate to have helped out at Pfizer and get a scholarship. She received $12,000.
If either of them does get the NMS, they will be awarded $2,000. They did not give any particular explanation about this scholarship – they didn’t plan to become finalists, after all – but clearly they were overjoyed to find out that they have such a high chance to get it. The NMSC has the goal to honor academically talented high school students, and they surely deserve the honor from their hard work in school.
To find out more about this organization, visit http://www.nationalmerit.org/about.php.