Menu
Foss only county National Merit 2018 semifinalist
A Greencastle High School senior is the only Putnam County student to earn semifinalist status in the prestigious 2018 National Merit Scholarship competition.
Simon A. Foss, 17-year-old son of Rebecca Schindler and Pedar Foss of Greencastle, joins approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Academically talented high school seniors like Foss have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual scholarship program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 420 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.
A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. Merit Scholar designees 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.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2018 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April. These scholarship recipients will join more than 330,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.