Mehlville Senior, Kristen Lenz was honored as a National Merit Scholar. Along with Lenz, Oakville Senior, David Gerding.
“I’m very excited and humbled to receive such an honor, and I’m very thankful that my parents pushed me to strive for excellence in academics,”said Gerding.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is to recognize academically talented students across the U.S. Scholars who earn this honor are in the top one percent of high school students.
Lenz expressed the importance of taking advantage of the high school experience.
“Students should take as many honor classes and dual credit courses throughout high school in order to be fully prepared for college,” said Lenz.
Along with promising academics, these students strive to be ambassadors. schools.
“Currently I’m on the Oakville academic Quiz Bowl Team, Oakville Robotics, Oakville Marching Band, and Wind Symphony,” said Gerding.
Last year 10,200 students qualified for the NMSC scholarship.After being selected as one of the 16,000 National Merit Semifinalist after scoring well on the PSAT, all semifinalists submit an essay. Then the National Merit Scholarship Corporation narrows the selection to 15,000 National Merit Finalists.
Originating in 1955, The National Merit Scholarship program bases the award on the preliminary NMSC qualifying test (PSAT/NMSQT). This is a test which serves as a national initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year.
After taking the qualifying test, submitting an application is next. Then the scholar is evaluated and possibly awarded after.
The selection process for National Merit Scholarships begins with the selection of 50,000 students who earn the highest scores on vital reading, math and writing tests. The selection process continues to narrow the list of possible finalists based on academics and their SAT/ ACT scores.
Lenz and Gerding are now a part of a group of 16,000 U.S. high school students who have made semifinals. Scholarships will be awarded to 8,000 students, who will be notified next spring. Each winner will receive a $2,500 scholarship.
