Puyallup High School Seniors Zane Lee
and Lydia Tarekegn are amongst 16,000 Semifinalists in the 65th annual
National Merit Scholarship Program. They will compete for 7,600 scholarships
worth more the $31 million which will be announced in the spring.
The qualifying test for entry into the
competition is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
(PSAT/NMSQT).
According
to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, to be considered for a Merit
Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance
to the Finalist level of the competition. The Semifinalist and a high school
official 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® or ACT®
scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
More than
90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to reach Finalist standing, and
about half of the Finalists will win a scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar® title.