For Hub City Times

EVANSTON, IL – The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including four Marshfield students.

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for around 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered in the spring.

Bhat

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 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 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, and write an essay.

Marshfield semifinalists include: Tara M. Bhat, Maureen R. Edwards, Alejandro Mayagoitia, and Justin A. Post.