Six Collegiate Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

9/22/2016

Collegiate School is proud to announce that six seniors — Georgia Beazley, Sumner Brinkley, Jane Fergusson, Claire Murphy, Kyle Riopelle and Price Withers — have been named 2017 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, the most of any independent school in Virginia.

These academically talented students will continue on to compete for about 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $33 million.

“As National Merit Semifinalists represent less than 1% of all students who took the test, we are exceedingly proud of these six students' accomplishment,” said Upper School Head Patrick Loach.

In addition, the following 13 seniors have been named Commended Students:

Morgan Baxter
Aidan Berger
John Bullock
Felipe Campos
Edwin Conquest
Elizabeth Harrison
Christopher Johnson
William Johnson
Gillian Laming
Martha Pahren
Michael Romer
Quinn Schebell
Margaret Wadsworth

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of 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. Although Commended Students will not continue in the 2017 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, these students have been recognized for their exceptional academic promise and placed among the top five percent of entrants.

To become a Finalist, each Semifinalist must submit a detailed scholarship application providing academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. Semifinalists must possess an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the qualifying test.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April through July 2017.

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