Four BHS students are semifinalists

Published 10:36 am Saturday, October 3, 2015

Four Bainbridge High seniors — Sophie Carson, Ryan Cox, Lucinda DeBolt and Robin Schmit — have been named as semifinalists for the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship program.

They were selected from a pool of 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last fall. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

In order to advance to the finalist level, the students must submit a detailed scholarship application, reflecting their academic records, extracurricular activities, and leadership capabilities. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will select finalists in February. It is anticipated that 90 percent of semifinalists, or 15,000 students, will receive this designation.

Finalists will compete for three types of National Merit Scholarships, to be announced in the spring of 2016: 2,500 National Merit $2500 scholarships, awarded on a state-representational basis; 1,000 corporate-sponsored merit scholarships, awarded by approximately 250 business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants are located; and 3,900 college-sponsored merit scholarships for finalists who attend a sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2016 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.