Northwest’s National Merit Semi-Finalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the semifinalists in their 69th annual scholarship program on September 13th, with five Northwest High School students qualifying for the potential scholarship, representing less than 1% of seniors across the nation.

The NMSC® was established in 1955, operating as a non-profit without government involvement or interference, funding scholarships for students across the country, with money provided through donations and the support of over 320 corporate organizations and higher education institutions. The organization promises to financially support academically gifted students, encouraging them to pursue higher education. The funding put towards scholarships awarded to finalists amounts to over $35 million, with each finalist selected for the scholarship receiving $2500 in scholarship funding or a college-based scholarship, potentially even a full-ride.

“When I found out [I was selected], I was surprised and confused because I didn’t really know what it meant,” senior Alex Hurley expressed, reflecting on when she found out she had qualified. “It would help me financially further my education, [since] I plan to study finance.”

Hurley is one of five Northwest students who scored high enough on the PSAT to qualify. The other four include Amelia Hanson, Naomi Pittman, Abby Adams, and Saahas Jetti. Iowa overall has 210 students who have been recognized as semi-finalists.

“To be a semifinalist means that the work that I’ve put in over these 12 years of school has been paying off,” Pittman expressed about being recognized as a potential recipient of the reward. “So that’s always just good to hear. That what you’re working for matters.”

This all sounds great, but how does someone qualify? The first step in the selection process is to take the PSAT, a practice version of the SAT. Around 1.3 million students across over 21,000 high schools take the PSAT and are thus considered for the scholarship. Around 16,000 of the highest-scoring students qualify as semi-finalists, advancing to the final stage of the selection process. To become a finalist, semi-finalists must obtain letters of recommendation and fill out an application, highlighting their academic and extracurricular involvement. The deadline for these two portions of the process was October 11th, with results expected to be announced by January. While most semi-finalists become finalists, it is still important for them to complete this last step to advance and earn a chance at receiving the scholarship.

“Find out what study habits work best for you,” Hanson stated, describing how she studies not only for standardized testing but for school as a whole. “Like for me, I can’t study at home, I have to go to a library. Just learning that if I go to a library, I can get my work done so much easier and faster, that helped me so much.”

Overall, the National Merit Scholarship is important for multiple reasons. It shows how important it is for students to take initiative with their education by, for example, taking the PSAT, which many students do without realizing the potential benefit of a scholarship. It also provides a merit-based scholarship to students rather than a solely necessitated one. Finally, it also proves the value of students working hard in school and challenging themselves. As they go into the next phase of their life after school, the work a student can do now can pay off, and this scholarship is proof of that.