National Merit Scholars
Most of the following information was found at the website of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation: www.nationalmerit.org. Please see the site for more details.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation offers an academic competition for recognition and scholarships by high school students going on to college. The first step students must take to become National Merit Scholars is to take the PSAT exam in October of their junior year.* At EPHS, test registration happens during lunch in the Main Commons area in September. Watch the daily bulletin carefully and don’t lose track of the dates to register; late registration is not accepted.
Those students with the highest PSAT scores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. In April, high-scoring participants are invited to name two colleges/universities to which they would like to be referred by NMSC. In September, these students are notified by their school choices that they have qualified as Commended students or Semifinalists. Commended students do not go further in the competition for Merit Scholarship awards but may become candidates for Special Scholarships given by businesses.
The Semifinalists are designated on a state representational basis, so our students are competing with other Minnesota students for top scores. About 16,000 of the 1.3 million entrants nationwide qualify for the honor. Semifinalists must meet further requirements to achieve Finalist status:
- Continue to meet program entry requirements.
- Be fully endorsed for Finalist standing and recommended for a Merit Scholarship award by your school.
- Have a record of consistently very high academic performance in all of grades 9-12 and in any college courses taken.
- Complete the Merit Scholarship Application student portions by the requested school date in early September and see that the school official completes the rest and mails to NMSC by early October date.
- Take the SAT I Reasoning Test between October of your sophomore year and December of your senior year (**but preferably by November to ensure that NMSC receives the score report in time) and make sure that the CollegeBoard sends your official score report to NMSC. (IMPORTANT TO VERIFY THIS IS DONE ON THE SCORE REPORT!)
Semifinalists are notified in February that they have advanced to Finalist standing and are presented with certificates by their high schools. Generally, about 15,000 of the 16,000 students make it through this qualification step. Of those, about 8,200 will receive a Merit Scholarship award from one of 3 types:
National Merit $2500 Scholarships
These single-payment scholarships are awarded on a state representational basis without consideration of need, college choice, or career choice.Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship
These awards may be designated for children of employees, residents of the corporation’s community, or students pursuing a career the corporation wants to encourage. Some of these scholarships are renewable, and some are one-time awards.College-sponsored Merit Scholarship
Sponsor colleges select winners from Finalists who have been accepted there for admission and have informed NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor college is the first choice. These awards are renewable for up to 4 years of undergraduate study.
*Students who take the PSAT must be enrolled full time as high school students and planning to enroll full time in college no later than the fall after high school completion, and they must either be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents here and intending to become citizens as soon as the law allows.